State  of  Kljobe  Islanb  anb  Jlvomitence  plantations. 


REPORT 


OF  THE 


Board  of  State  Valuation, 


MADE  TO  THE 


GENERAL  ASSEMBLY, 


AT  ITS 


JANUARY  SESSION,  1891 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

E.  L.  FREEMAN  & SON,  PRINTERS  TO  THE  STATE. 

1891. 


% 

State  of  ttljoirc  Jslani)  anlr  prooitrence  plantations. 


REPORT 


OF  THE 


Board  oL  State  Valuation, 

MADE  TO  THE 

GENERAL  ASSEMBLY 

AT  ITS 


JANUARY  SESSION,  1891. 


PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

E.  L.  FREEMAN  & SON,  PRINTERS  TO  THE  STATE. 

1891. 


* ^ 


\Vso 


* 


/ 


■ 


28  Je  05  E.C.S. 


REPORT. 


To  the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island , at  its  January  Session , A.  D.  1891 : 

The  Board  of  State  Valuation  have  the  honor  to  present  their 
report  as  required  by  the  Act  which  created  the  Board.  This  Act 
was  passed  at  the  January  Session,  1890,  and  supplemented  a 
resolution  adopted  at  the  January  Session,  1889. 

Under  the  resolution  of  1889,  a Joint  Special  Committee  of  the 
General  Assembly,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Israel  B.  Mason  of  Prov- 
idence, Henry  W.  Hayes  of  Bristol,  and  Edwin  A.  Perrin  of  Paw- 
tucket, from  the  House  of  Bepresentatives,  and  Messrs.  Joseph 
E.  Cole  of  Woonsocket,  and  Robert  S.  Franklin  of  Newport,  from 
the  Senate,  was  appointed  “ to  inquire  into  the  sources  of  revenue 
of  the  State,  etc,”  reference  being  made  to  the  copy  of  the  resolu- 
tion appended  hereto  for  the  precise  language  thereof. 

The  Committee’s  interpretation  of  the  resolution  was  that  they 
should  obtain  such  information  relative  to  the  ratable  property  of 
the  several  towns  in  the  State  as  would  be  valuable  in  the  work 
of  revaluing  such  property  for  purposes  of  State  taxation  ; it  being 
conceded  on  every  hand  that  such  a revaluation  was  much  needed 
and  would  soon  have  to  be  made.  Acting  upon  this  understanding, 
and  realizing  that  no  change  had  been  made  in  the  rating  of  the 
several  towns  for  purposes  of  State  taxation,  during  a period 
of  sixteen  years,  excepting  by  the  loss  or  acquisition  of  territory, 
the  Committee  deemed  it  their  duty  to  make  as  complete  and 
thorough  an  investigation  of  the  subject  as  would,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, be  possible.  They  therefore  determined  to  visit 
every  community  in  the  State,  and  to  seek  the  most  direct  and 
positive  evidence  obtainable. 


.-LIO  H 3 


4 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


Preliminary  to  this  work  the  Committee  held  several  meetings 
in  Providence,  at  one  of  which  they  elected  Mr.  Albert  A.  Baker, 
of  Providence,  clerk. 

The  method  pursued  by  the  Committee  in  making  these  investi- 
gations was  practically  as  follows,  viz.:  They  would  meet  the 
assessors,  after  due  notice  to  them,  at  the  town  clerk’s  office  (or 
wherever  the  records  were  kept  and  would  be  convenient  for  use), 
and  would  then  conduct  a system  of  questioning  designed  to 
secure  from  the  assessors  the  fullest  and  most  correct  information 
relative  to  their  methods  of  valuing  the  different  classes  of  prop- 
erty and  to  their  reasons  therefor. 

The  examination  was  longer  or  shorter  according  as  the  asses- 
sors had  intelligent  ideas  of  the  purposes  of  the  visit,  or  were  in- 
clined to  assist  the  Committee  in  their  efforts  to  procure  useful 
information.  Then  comparisons  were  made  in  the  valuations  put 
upon  specific  properties  in  different  years,  and  an  inspection  of 
the  real  estate,  especial  attention  being  given  to  localities  where 
marked  changes  had  taken  place,  was  made  by  the  Committee, 
accompanied  by  the  assessors  when  convenient  for  them,  and 
always  by  some  well-informed  citizen  of  the  town.  The  records 
of  land  evidence  were  searched,  and  a list  obtained  of  sales  where 
the  actual  consideration  was  expressed  in  the  deed.  Lists  of  sales 
were  often  obtained  also  from  the  town  clerk  or  from  some  citizen 
in  a position  to  know  what  prices  were  actually  paid  for  different 
pieces  of  property.  Manufacturing  plants  were  visited  and  thor- 
oughly examined,  the  owners  or  their  agents  furnishing  the  Com- 
mittee with  much  valuable  information.  The  evidence  thus  ob- 
tained was,  so  far  as  it  was  possible,  reduced  to  writing  for  the 
future  examination  of  the  Committee. 

This  plan  of  work  was  carried  out  by  the  Committee  in  every 
town  and  city  in  the  State,  with  the  exception  of  the  City  of  Prov- 
idence. the  January  Session  of  the  General  Assembly  interrupting 
the  Committee’s  labors  as  they  were  about  to  commence  work  in 
that  city. 

At  this  session  (January,  1890,)  State  officers  and  others  deemed 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


5 


it  advisable  to  utilize  the  experience  of  the  Committee,  together 
with  the  vast  amount  of  written  evidence  which  they  had  gathered, 
by  resolving  the  Committee  into  a “Board  of  Re-Valuation.” 
This  was  accomplished  by  an  Act,  a copy  of  which  is  appended  here- 
to, passed  May  2, 1890,  whereby  the  Joint  Special  Committee  above 
referred  to,  together  with  Messrs.  Ambrose  Feely  of  Woonsocket, 
and  Amos  D.  Arnold  of  Pawtucket,  were  constituted  a “ Board  of 
State  Valuation,”  with  the  duty  of  preparing  “ a re-valuation  of 
all  the  ratable  property  of  the  several  towns  and  cities  of  the 
State,”  and  reporting  the  same  to  the  General  Assembly  before 
February  1st,  1891.  This  latter  duty  has  not  been  complied  with, 
because  the  magnitude  of  the  work  was  such  as  to  render  its  com- 
pletion at  that  time  practically  impossible.  The  Act  also  required 
the  Board  to  perform  other  duties,  the  scope  of  which  was  very 
broad. 

Immediately  after  organization  (Mr.  Baker  being  retained  as 
clerk),  the  Board,  adopting  and  pursuing  the  plan  established  by 
the  Committee,  visited  several  towns  and  cities  in  the  State  for 
the  purpose  of  making  further  examination  thereof  and  of  gather- 
ing information  for  comparison  with  the  evidence  obtained  by  the 
Committee.  They  then  commenced  a thorough  investigation 
into  the  methods  of  valuation  in  the  City  of  Providence  and  into 
the  actual  condition  of  property  therein,  comparing  the  same 
with  the  conditions  and  valuations  of  other  years,  back  to  1872. 
This  occupied  a period  of  over  four  months.  Since  that  time  the 
Board  have  been  at  work  at  the  State  House  in  Providence, 
developing  the  immense  amount  of  data  in  their  possession  ; 
working  through  the  winter  months  upon  an  average  of  three 
times  a week  from  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  until  eleven 
o’clock  at  night.  The  results  are  herewith  presented,  separate 
reports  upon  the  several  towns  being  appended  and  made  a part 
of  this  report.  In  this  connection  the  Board  would  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  territorial  limits  of  the  cities  of  Providence 
and  Pawtucket  and  the  towns  of  North  Providence  and  South 
Kingstown  have  been  changed  since  the  State  valuation  of  1873, 


6 


REPORT  OF  ROARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 

and  that  the  valuations  thereof  have  been  changed  in  conformity 
therewith. 

The  Board  feel  it  incumbent  on  them  to  report,  without  going 
into  tedious  detail,  some  of  the  matters  and  methods  which 
seemed  to  them  to  call  for  criticism,  and  will  first  refer  to  the  val- 
uation of  real  estate. 

In  many  of  the  towns  the  valuation  was  made  in  a -loose,  un- 
reasoning way,  which  resulted  either  in  the  amounts  being  named 
from  baseless  guess-work,  or  from  reasons  purely  personal  toward 
the  owner  of  the  property.  * 

In  other  towns  there  was  exhibited  a disposition  to  make  equit- 
able valuations,  but  the  results  were  not  always  satisfactory  ow- 
ing to  the  lack  of  a proper  system.  In  fact,  there  were  but  four 
towns  in  the  State  in  which  the  assessors  appeared  to  have  well- 
defined  systems,  viz : — the  cities  of  Providence,  Pawtucket  and 
Newport  and  the  town  of  Cranston.  In  these  towns  it  was  not 
the  lack  of  a proper  system  which  led  to  their  being  under- 
valued, but  causes  entirely  local  in  their  nature.  Land  is  platted 
for  the  benefit  of  the  assessors  and  the  area  and  location  of  every 
lot  is  known.  The  land  and  improvements  are  valued  separately. 
This  is  very  different  from  the  method  pursued  in  some  towns, 
where  several  tracts  of  land,  with  the  improvements  thereon,  be- 
longing to  one  individual,  will  be  assessed  merely  for  a gross 
sum,  without  any  description  of  the  property  whatever,  and  also 
different  from  some  other  towns,  where  separate  parcels  of  real 
estate  belonging  to  the  same  person  may  be  separately  referred  to 
in  the  tax  list,  but  where  the  valuations  thereof  are  arrived  at  by 
processes  unknown  to  this  Board. 

There  are  still  some  boards  of  assessors  in  the  State  who  are 
willing  to  admit  that  they  do  not  intend  to  assess  real  estate  at  its 
full,  fair,  cash  value,  but  rather  at  various  percentages  of  its  true 
value,  from  sixty  per  cent,  (and  even  lower)  upwards.  In  many 
of  the  towns,  however,  the  assessors  assert  their  intention  to  fol- 
low strictly  the  statutory  requirement.  There  are  nearly  as  many 
constructions  put  upon  the  phrase  “ full,  fair,  cash  value  ” as  there 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


7 


are  assessors  rising  it ; the  extremes  being,  “ what  the  property 
would  sell  for  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,”  and  “what 
it  would  fetch  at  forced  sale  under  the  most  unfavorable  circum- 
stances.” 

It  was  very  noticeable  that  the  most  liberal  interpretation  of 
the  statute,  as  a rule,  was  made  in  those  communities  where  the 
greatest  improvement  in  real  estate  had  been  made,  and  the  con- 
trary, in  those  towns  where  values  had  changed,  if  at  all,  for  the 
worse.  The  notable  exception  to  this  apparent  rule  was  the  city 
of  Pawtucket,  where  from  stress  of  local  circumstances,  the  val- 
uation has  increased  with  the  improvement  of  property. 
There  are  a great  many  towns  wherein  the  assessors  use  the  val- 
uations of  different  pieces  of  property  placed  thereon  by  their 
predecessors  in  office  and  make  no  change  in  such  valuation  un- 
less there  has  been  marked  change  in  the  property. 

The  humorous  phases  of  the  Board’s  work  were  not  the  least 
valuable,  in  that  they  served  to  illustrate  the  Board’s  idea,  that  a 
uniform  system  of  election  of  assessors  throughout  the  State  was 
very  desirable.  When  the  Board  found  a body  of  assessors  wait- 
ing for  their  examination  by  the  Board,  with  antagonism  expressed 
in  every  lineament,  in  every  movement  and  in  every  utterance,  they 
soon  learned  to  know  that  this  meant  a long  and  weary  fight  for 
little  information,  with  a hard  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  asses- 
sors to  conceal  such  facts  as  might  lead  the  Board  to  believe  that 
there  had  been  an  improvement  in  the  property  of  the  town,  and 
when  during  the  Board’s  review  of  all  the  data  in  their  possession, 
they  found  that  some  of  these  towns  had  reduced  their  valuations 
in  1890  from  1889,  they  were  satisfied  that  their  first  impressions 
were  correct  and  that  these  towns  were  trying  to  reduce  their 
proportion  of  the  State  tax. 

The  Board  believe  that  much  of  this  is  the  result  of  the  system 
of  election  each  year  of  a large  or  small  board  of  assessors,  select- 
ed from  different  portions  of  the  town,  who  are  expected  to  per- 
form their  duties  faithfully  upon  a compensation  somewhat  less 
magnificent  than  that  of  the  Inspector  of  scythe-stones.  If  the 


8 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


same  tenure  of  office  as,  and  a proportional  compensation  to,  the 
assessors^of  the  city  of  Providence,  was  given  to  the  assessors  of 
every  other  town  and  city,  there  would,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Board,  be  far  more  satisfactory  and  equitable  results.  The  Board 
would  suggest  that  the  language  of  the  Statute  be  changed  so 
that  it  will  state  definitely  and  explicitly  the  basis  upon  which  all 
valuation  of  real  estate  should  be  made. 

The  term  “ mill  property  ” is  used  throughout  this  report  as 
synonymous  with  manufacturing  plants  of  all  descriptions. 

There  was  not  a board  of  assessors  in  the  State  who  knew,  and 
but  few  pretended  to  know,  what  the  true  valuation  of  mill  prop- 
erty was,  and  the  Board  were  thrown  upon  their  own  resources 
in  ascertaining  the  exact  condition  of  such  property.  The  asses- 
sors very  often  assessed  the  property  for  such  amounts  as  the 
owners  would  seem  willing  to  have  taxed  against  them,  and  some- 
times would  assess  the  entire  plant  as  real  estate,  and  again  would 
assess  a total  amount  and  then  divide  it  into  real  and  personal 
equally,  but  more  often  would  assess  amounts  arbitrarily,  both  real 
and  personal,  without  being  able  to  give  any  reason  therefor. 

The  Board  visited  nearly  every  manufacturing  plant  of  any 
considerable  importance  in  the  State,  and  were  almost  invariably 
received  with  much  courtesy  by  the  owners  or  their  representa- 
tives, and  had  every  facility  offered  them  to  obtain  the  fullest  in- 
formation. 

In  addition  to  the  personal  inspection  of  mill  property,  the 
Board  sent  to  all  the  principal  manufacturing  establishments  in 
the  State  a confidential  circular,  asking  for  certain  information 
which  would  be  of  great  assistance  to  the  Board  in  determining 
the  value  of  a plant.  They  received  a large  number  of  returns, 
thus  proving  as  a rule  that  the  manufacturer  is  not  only  not 
averse  to  giving  proper  information  when  sought  in  a proper  way, 
but  is  always  desirous  of  furnishing  accurate  data  and  is,  withal, 
very  courteous  about  it.  The  Board  was  fortunate  in  having  as  a 
member  a practical  woolen  manufacturer  of  long  standing,  who 
was  of  great  assistance  to  them  in  this  branch  of  the  work.  With 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


9 


his  aid  a standard  was  adopted  for  all  classes  of  mill  property 
which  the  Board  have  since,  individually,  been  informed  was  cer- 
tainly conservative.  The  importance  of  properly  rating-  this  class 
of  property  cannot  be  over-estimated  when  it  is  considered  that 
nearly  every  village  in  the  State  has  its  manufacturing  establish- 
ment upon  which  a portion  of  that  community  depends  for  its 
livelihood.  The  Board,  therefore,  used  considerable  time  in  de- 
termining and  reviewing  the  valuations  of  the  various  mill  pro- 
perties. In  this  connection  it  may  be  said  that  the  decisions  in 
the  Dunnell  Manufacturing  Company’s  case  and  the  Coventry 
Company’s  case,  reported,  the  former  in  Yol.  15  of  the  Bhode 
Island  Reports  and  the  latter  in  Yol.  16  of  the  Rhode  Island  Re- 
ports, have  done  much  to  befog  the  understanding  of  the  average 
assessor  on  the  subject  of  assessing  mill  property.  There  seems 
to  be  no  reason  why,  if  personal  property  is  to  be  taxed,  the  en- 
tire stock  in  process  of  manufacture  in  a mill  should  escape  assess- 
ment or  even  why  the  machinery  should  escape  assessment  be- 
cause the  mill  owners  have  a temporary  indebtedness. 

The  Board  find  an  utter  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  assessment  of 
railroad  property  in  the  different  towns,  the  general  feeling  being, 
apparently,  that  railroads  could  in  the  poorer  towns  be  taxed  to 
the  highest  notch  with  impunity.  Taking  this  matter  in  connec- 
tion with  the  taxation  of  personal  property,  the  Board  are  of  the 
opinion  that  a new  method  of  taxing  railroad  corporations,  if  no 
others,  should  be  adopted.  The  most  efficacious  plan  which  the 
Board  have  yet  discovered  is  the  plan  adopted  in  Massachusetts, 
which  they  recommend  to  the  earnest  attention  of  your  honorable 
body.  This  plan  contemplates  not  only  the  equalizing  of  the  real 
estate  valuations  of  the  railroads,  but  also  the  assessment  of  all 
their  capital  stock. 

In  relation  to  the  taxation  of  personal  property,  the  Board  must 
confess  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  personal  property  of  mills, 
they  found  themselves  in  much  the  same  predicament  as  they 

found  the  assessors  in  the  several  cities  and  towns,  i.  e.  pre- 
% 


10 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


suming  that  everything  was  to  be  taxed,  the  assessing  a val- 
uation of  personal  property  was  largely  guess-work.  There 
were  all  kinds  of  ways  in  which  personal  valuations  were  made 
by  the  assessors  of  the  different  towns.  In  one  case  mortgages 
would  be  assessed  at  their  face  value  and  in  another  an  allowance 
would  be  made.  In  a great  many  instances  there  would  be  no 
taxation  of  live-stock  or  farming-tools,  and  also  no  taxation  of 
books,  works  of  art,  furniture,  etc.  In  some  towns  railroad  stocks 
were  not  taxed  and  in  others  bank  stocks  were  assessed  at  par, 
although  selling  for  much  above  par.  Inventories  of  estates  in- 
variably showed  that  the  estate  wTas  more  valuable  than  appeared 
by  the  assessments  against  it. 

In  nearly  every  town  there  appeared  to  be  a large  amount  of 
personal  property  which  for  one  reason  or  another  was  not  taxed; 
and  in  the  assessment  of  this  class  of  property  there  has  arisen, 
and  must  of  necessity  arise,  a spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  princi- 
ple of  this  taxation,  growing  out  of  the  feeling  which  each  indi- 
vidual has  that  the  assessors  have  taxed  him,  perhaps  not  all  that 
he  is  liable  to  be  assessed  for,  but  more  in  proportion  than  his 
neighbor  has  been  taxed,  whom  he  knows  to  have  far  more  per- 
sonal property  liable  to  taxation  than  he  is  assessed  for.  The  re- 
sult of  this  condition  is  that  there  is  a constant  attempt  to  con- 
ceal property  from  the  assessors,  and  under  the  present  system, 
the  development  of  a tendency  to  untruthfulness  in  otherwise  up- 
right men,  which  these  individuals  would  look  upon  with  horror 
if  it  applied  to  their  ordinary  business  affairs. 

There  should  be  some  restriction  put  upon  the  removal  of  indi- 
viduals from  one  town  to  another  for  the  main  purpose  of  avoiding 
taxation,  as  the  result  is  not  just  to  the  other  members  of  the 
community  who  pay  a tax  upon  a larger  percentage  of  their 

property.  It  would  seem,  if  the  present  scheme  of  personal 

property  taxation  is  to  continue,  as  though  there  should  be 
changes  in  the  laws  to  reduce  the  inequalities  of  taxation  to  a 
minimum.  There  can  be  no  good  reason  for  taxing  both  the 

mortgagor  and  mortgagee  of  real  estate  and  not  taxing  the 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


11 


mortgagor  and  mortgagee  of  personal  property.  Either  there 
should  be  double  taxation,  so-called,  in  both  cases  or  in  neither. 
It  is  possible  that  much  of  the  present  difficulty  might  be  avoided 
if  tangible  personal  property  only  were  taxed,  and  this  without 
rebate  and  wherever  it  might  be  found. 

Although  the  Board  are  not  yet  able  to  determine  whether  or 
not  all  corporations,  of  every  description,  should  be  required  to 
pay  an  annual  rate  upon  their  capital,  yet  they  are  satisfied  that 
all  personal  property  of  corporations,  such  as  machinery,  etc., 
which  is  not  exposed  for  sale  in  the  ordinary  course  of  trade, 
should  be  assessed  regardless  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  corpora- 
tion. They  also  believe  that  a fee  should  be  required  from  every 
corporation  applying  for  amendment  to  its  charter,  and  also  from 
every  literary  or  social  body  obtaining  a charter. 

In  this  matter  of  personal  property  taxation  there  should  be  re- 
quired of  the  cashier  of  every  National  Bank  in  the  State  that  he, 
on  some  stated  day,  annually  notify  the  assessors  of  the  town  in 
which  the  stockholder  in  his  bank  resides,  of  the  name  of  such 
stockholder  and  the  amount  of  his  stock. 

The  law  should  also  require  the  assessors  to  n©tify  in  writing 
every  person  whom  they  propose  to  assess  personal  property  for 
the  first  time  and  every  person  the  valuation  of  whose  property 
they  propose  to  increase. 

There  are  many  matters  which  could  be  suggested  to  your 
honorable  body  in  connection  with  this  subject,  each  of  which 
would  have  its  peculiar  merit,  but  as  there  is  such  a diversity  of 
opinion  about  the  advisability  of  one  or  the  other  being  consider- 
ed at  this  time,  the  Board  have  concluded  that  it'would  be  detri- 
mental to  the  interest  of  the  main  scheme,  that  of  securing  an 
equitable  re-valuation,  to  call  the  attention  of  your  honorable 
body  to  them  at  this  time,  in  any  other  way  than  is  stated  herein. 

The  Board  have  had  several  tables  prepared  showing  in  brief 
the  results  of  the  re-valuation  and  comparison  with  other  valua- 
tion. They  believe  that  they  have  fully  covered  the  ground  of 
explanation  in  their  detailed  reports  appended  hereto.  The  new 


12 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


law  passed  at  the  January  session,  A.  D.  1890,  requiring  assessors 
to  place  the  valuation  of  land  and  improvements  in  separate 
columns  was  complied  with  by  nearly  all  the  towns,  the  few  neglect- 
ing to  do  so  being  cases  where  the  assessors  did  not  receive  timely 
notice  of  the  new  law,  or  did  not  wish  to  do  the  extra  work  re- 
quired, as  they  called  it,  without  extra  compensation.  The  system 
is  a good  one  but  does  not  yet  work  satisfactorily  because  the  as- 
sessors do  not  all  make  the  separate  valuation  intended  by  the 
law,  but  instead  make  an  arbitrary  separation  of  the  whole  amount 
into  land  and  improvements. 

The  Board  have  given  considerable  attention  to  the  other  sub- 
jects in  relation  to  which  they  were  required  to  make  suggestions 
to  your  honorable  body,  but,  from  the  lack  of  time,  have  not  been 
able  to  formulate  these  suggestions  for  presentation  at  this  time. 
If  it  is  considered  advisable  to  continue  this  Board  for  these  pur- 
poses until  the  January  Session  of  1892,  they  will  be  in  a position 
to  present  a more  elaborate  report  than  could  possibly  be  pre- 
pared in  any  much  less  time,  and  can  then  supplement  the  report 
with  bills  framed  to  meet  their  suggestions.  All  of  which  is 
respectfully  submitted. 

ISBAEL  B.  MASON,  Chairman , 
HENRY  W.  HAYES, 

EDWIN  A.  PERRIN, 

JOS.  E.  COLE, 

ROBT.  S.  FRANKLIN, 
AMBROSE  FEELY, 

AMOS  D.  ARNOLD. 


PROVIDENCE. 


The  Board  commenced  work  upon  the  valuation  of  the  City  of  Providence 
by  meeting  the  City  Assessors,  at  their  office,  July  8th,  1890,  and  continued 
these  meetings  upon  an  average  of  three  times  a week,  until  about  the  mid- 
dle of  August,  and  again  during  the  early  part  of  September.  At  these 
meetings  the  most  careful  examination  was  made  of  the  assessors’  methods 
of  fixing  valuations.  In  inquiring  about  the  real  estate  valuation  all  the  as- 
sessors’ plats  of  the  City  were  consulted,  each  plat  being  taken  up  separately 
and  careful  comparisons  being  made  of  the  assessed  values  for  the  year  1890 
with  the  assessed  values  of  several  other  years,  and  also  with  the  records  of 
sales,  where  the  actual  selling  price  could  be  determined.  The  assessors 
were  subjected  to  a thorough  examination  relative  to  the  condition  of  prop- 
erty on  each  plat,  and  to  the  changes  which  had  occurred  therein  since  1873. 

Copious  minutes  were  taken  at  each  of  these  meetings,  and  records  of 
hundreds  of  sales  were  obtained  from  the  assessors,  where  the  actual  consid- 
eration was  known  to  them  and  not  expressed  in  the  transfers. 

After  completing  this  work  at  the  office  of  the  assessors,  the  Board  accom- 
panied by  the  assessors  with  plats  and  plat  books,  visited  every  section  of 
the  city,  and  made  a personal  inspection  of  the  property  located  on  each  of 
the  plats.  They  also  visited  nearly  all  the  manufacturing  establishments  of 
importance  in  the  city,  this  work  of  personal  inspection  of  real  estate  and 
manufacturing  property  occupying  the  attention  of  the  Board  for  nearly 
two  months. 

In  carrying  out  this  plan  of  the  work,  the  Board  were  enabled  to  notice 
the  changes  occurring  in  many  parts  of  the  city.  In  some  sections,  each 
covering  territory  included  in  several  plats,  there  would  appear  to  be  no  life 
in  real  estate  values,  and  apparently  a depreciation  frorp.  the  values  of  a few' 
years  previous,  while  in  other  sections,  there  were  indications  of  constantly 
increasing  values.  In  several  instances  of  this  kind,  the  assessors  stated 
they  had  not,  as  yet,  made  the  changes  in  value  warranted  by  the  conditions 
and  the  Board  have  kept  in  mind  the  expressed  intention  of  the  assessors  to 
re-adjust  the  values  in  different  localities,  as  soon  as  they  could  make  the 
necessary  arrangements  therefor. 


14 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OP  STATE  VALUATION. 


The  Board  have  taken  into  consideration  as  the  city  assessors  have,  the 
effect  of  local  conditions  upon  the  different  sections,  and  they  have  also 
taken  into  consideration  in  making  comparisons  between  the  values  of  1890 
and  1873,  of  certain  sections  of  the  outlying  districts  of  the  city,  the  differ- 
ence between  the  “fictitious  values”  under  the  “boom”  of  1873,  and  the 
“ hard  pan  ” values  of  1890. 

The  examination  of  the  record  sales  of  the  past  two  years,  and  of  the  sales 
obtained  from  the  assessors  of  the  past  ten  years,  including  sales  of  parcels 
of  property  for  specific  sums,  and  of  parcels  df  property  at  a rate  per  foot, 
disclosed  some  peculiar  facts.  In  some  aggregates  of  sales  the  proportion  of 
the  sales  to  the  assessed  values,  were  as  high  as  101  per  cent.,  while  in  others 
it  was  as  low  as  69  per  cent.,  but  it  was  noticeable  that  the  greater  differ- 
ences between  the  selling  price  and  the  assessed  value,  were  in  the  more 
thriving  and  rapidly  growing  portions  of  the  city,  while  the  lesser  differ- 
ences were  found  in  those  sections  where  few  changes  were  occurring. 

The  assessors  state  that  while  intending  to  tax  land  for  its  full,  fair,  cash 
value,  they  are  not  governed  by  individual  sales,  but,  before  changing 
values  in  the  vicinity  of  the  land  sold,  wait  until  there  develops  a general 
upward  tendency  before  increasing  the  valuation;  thus  there  are  many  local- 
ities where  the  assessors  have  not  changed  the  valuation,  although  the  sell- 
ing prices  of  land  in  those  localities  would  indicate  that  an  increase  or  de- 
crease of  the  valuation  would  be  warranted. 

The  growth  of  the  city  from  1873  to  1890,  as  indicated  by  the  census  re- 
turns, the  census  of  1870  being  68,904,  and  the  census  of  1890  being  131,749, 
together  with  the  addition  of  a large  territory  acquired  from  the  town  of 
North  Providence,  would  naturally  suggest  a proportional  increase  of  valua- 
tion, taking  the  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873  as  a basis,  but  it  must 
not  be  overlooked  that  the  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873,  although 
honestly  made  and  justified  by  the  then  condition  of  things,  was  as  has  been 
shown  by  the  lapse  of  time,  based  upon  an  inflation  which  has  since  been 
reduced  to  an  approximately  normal  condition. 

The  Board  find  that  in  the  valuation  of  manufacturing  property  the  asses- 
sors have  exhibited  a leniency  towards  the  owners  thereof  that  is  certainly 
co  mmendable,  when  viewed  as  an  exhibition  of  their  appreciation  of  the  ad- 
va  ntage  of  such  property  to  the  city,  but  is  as  detrimental  to  the  State’s  in- 
terest in  so  far  as  its  revenue  is  concerned.  They  state  that  in  many  instances 
they  have  followed  the  valuations  put  upon  such  property  by  their  predeces- 
sors in  office,  and  also  that  they  have  no  standard  of  valuation  for  this  class 
of  property.  The  under-valuation  and  in  many  instances  lack  of  valuation 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


15 


of  the  personal  property  of  manufacturing  establishments  is  particularly 
noticeable.  The  experience  acquired  by  the  Board  in  the  examination  of 
manufacturing  property  throughout  the  State  (the  City  of  Providence  being 
the  last  place  visited),  enabled  the  Board  to  estimate  the  value  of  this  class 
of  property  in  Providence,  with  fairly  reasonable  accuracy  ; and  they  find 
the  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  the  manufacturing  property  to  be  $11,134, 
260  as  against  $9,720,200,  the  valuation  put  upon  it  by  the  assessors  in  1890. 
They  find  the  valuation  of  the  personal  estate  of  the  mills  to  be  $6,355,240  as 
against  $1,704,800,  the  valuation  of  the  city  assessors. 

The  Board  have  considered  the  valuation  of  railroad  property  separately 
from  the  other  real  estate,  and  find  its  true  value  to  be  $3,985,064,  as  against 
$2,384,920,  the  valuation  of  the  city  assessors. 

The  Board  also  find  by  returns  of  the  assessors  that  there  is  property 
owned  by  the  city,  not  exempt  from  taxation  to  the  amount  of  $3,029,340, 
not  included  in  the  tax  lists.  The  Board  have  not  changed  this  valuation  al- 
though it  appears  to  be  an  under-valuation,  but  have  kept  it  in  mind  in  their 
consideration  of  the  value  of  the  general  real  estate. 

By  deducting  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  railroad  property  and  the  prop- 
erty owned  by  the  city,  and  the  real  estate  of  manufacturing  property  from 
the  total  assessed  real  estate  valuation  of  the  city  of  1890,  the  Board  find  the 
general  real  estate  in  the  city  to  be  assessed  by  the  city  assessors,  $92,572,320. 
After  long  deliberaton  and  careful  consideration  the  Board  unanimously  find 
this  amount  to  be  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  of  such  property,  making  the 
true  value  $108,908,611.  Adding  to  this  total  the  Board’s  estimate  of  the 
true  value  of  the  railroad  property  and  the  real  estate  of  manufacturing 
property,  and  also  adding  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  city’s  property,  the 
Board  find  the  true  valuation  of  the  entire  real  property  of  the  city  to  be 
$127,057,275.  In  relation  to  personal  property  the  Board  find  that  the  city 
assessors  experience  the  same  difficulties,  (only  perhaps  in  a greater  degree) 
as  are  met  by  the  assessors  in  every  town  of  the  State,  and  the  result  is  that 
they  guess  as  well  as  circumstances  will  permit.  The  Board  in  determining 
the  true  value  of  personal  property,  have  taken  into  consideration  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants,  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  local  corporations  other 
than  manufacturing  and  land  companies,  and  also  to  some  extent  the  amount 
of  deposits  in  Savings  Banks.  They  have  also  made  a comparison  in  a great 
number  of  instances  of  the  assessment  of  undivided  personal  property  with 
the  business  carried  on  by  the  individual  and  his  reputed  financial  standing, 
keeping  in  mind  the  fact  of  his  having  or  not  having  made  a statement  to  the 
assessors.  Deducting  the  assessed  personal  valuation  of  manufacturing  prop- 


16 


REPORT  OF  ROARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


erty  from  the  total  personal  valuation  of  the  city  assessors,  the  Board  find 
the  general  personal  property  to  be  assessed  $34,227,820,  and  this  amount 
they  have  unanimously  determined  to  be  80  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  of 
the  general  personal  property,  making  the  Board’s  valuation  $42,784,775. 
Adding  to  this  amount  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  personal  of  manufactur- 
ing property  gives  the  total  true  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  the 
city,  $49,140,015. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $102,850,100;  personal, 
$37,627,240  ; total,  $140,477,340.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $104,684,440  ; personal,  $35,932,620  ; total,  $140,617,060.  The  valuation 
of  the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $116,544,000;  personal,  $40,160,700; 
total,  $156,704,700.  The  present  valuation  of  the  City  of  Providence  for 
State  taxation  is  $168,547,726.  The  difference  between  this  amount  and  the 
amount  found  by  the  State  Board  of  1873,  was  obtained  by  the  State  author- 
ities from  the  annexation  of  portions  of  North  Providence  to  the  city  in  1873 
and  1874. 

The  Board's  valuation  is,  real,  $127,057,275  ; personal,  $49,140,015;  total, 
$176,197,290. 


NORTH  PROVIDENCE. 

Since  the  valuation  by  the  State  Board  in  1873,  this  town  has  lost  a very 
large  portion  of  its  territory,  annexed  both  to  Providence  and  Pawtucket. 
No  new  valuation  of  the  real  estate  in  this  town  has  been  made  since  the 
division  of  the  town,  and  the  assessors  in  making  their  valuations  follow  the 
tax  lists  of  the  preceding  years,  and  make  changes  therein  only  when  their 
attention  is  called  to  improvements.  They  claim  to  assess  at  about  80  or  85 
per  cent,  of  the  actual  cash  value. 

The  record  of  sales  which  the  Board  pbtained  from  the  transfer  books 
shows  that  the  assessed  values  of  real  estate  have  been  about  71  per  cent,  of 
the  prices  obtained  therefor.  This  is  one  of  the  few  towns  in  this  part  of  the 
State,  where  the  farms  have  been  well  kept  up,  and  according  to  the  assess- 
ors’ statements  are  in  better  condition  than  formerly.  The  location  of  the 
town  nearly  between  the  cities  of  Providence  and  Pawtucket,  undoubtedly 
accounts  for  the  present  condition  of  real  estate  values  here.  The  Board  are 
of  the  opinion  from  all  the  information  at  hand,  that  the  assessed  valuation 
of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mills,  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  and  this 
true  value  the  Board  finds  to  be  $1,050,900. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


17 


The  assessors  do  not  seem  to  have  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  the  mill 
property,  and  they  have  therefore  largely  under-valued  the  same.  The  Board 
after  a careful  examination  of  this  property,  have  determined  its  value  to  be 
real,  $338,000,  and  personal,  $273,000  Taking  these  estimates  of  the  Board 
together  shows  the  total  result  of  their  real  valuation  to  be  $1,388,900. 

The  assessors’  statements  as  to  personal  property  show  a somewhat  unusual 
condition  of  things.  They  intend  to  assess  an  individual  at  about  80  per 
cent,  of  what  they  think  he  is  worth.  They  do  not  tax  railroad  stock,  farm- 
ing tools  or  live  stock,  nor  ordinary  goods  or  chattels.  They  do  not  tax 
mortgages  at  full  value,  nor  inventories  of  estates  above  80  per  cent,  as  a 
rule.  This  would  account  to  a considerable  extent  for  the  comparatively 
small  amount  of  the  personal  valuation.  Considering  these  facts  the  Board 
have  concluded  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property,  exclusive 
of  mills  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  and  they  find  the  same  to  be  $104,800. 
Adding  to  this  the  Board’s  estimate  of  the  personal  property  of  mills,  deter- 
mined the  total  personal  valuation  as  $377,800. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $955,865  ; personal,  $162,900  ; 
total,  $1,118,765.  The  assessors’ valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $992,175  ; per- 
sonal, $165,600  ; total,  $1,157,775.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was  real,  $21,497,387  ; personal,  $2,227,555  ; total,  $23,724,942. 

This  valuation  has  been  changed  by  the  State  authorities  since  portions  of 
the  town  were  annexed  to  Providence  and  Pawtucket,  and  the  present  valu- 
ation for  State  taxation  is  fixed  at  the  total  sum  of  $1,029,846.  The  Board's 
valuation  is,  real,  $1,388,900  ; personal,  $377,800  ; total,  $1,766,700. 


EAST  PROVIDENCE. 

^liis  town  is  long  and  narrow  and  contains  a village  at  each  end  and  a 
quite  populous  community  near  the  centre.  The  assessors  claimed  to  tax 
real  estate  generally  at  a little  less  than  its  full  value,  and  do  not  pretend  to 
assess  strictly  according  to  the  sales.  They  take  as  a basis  what  they  think 
the  property  would  readily  bring  (presumably  at  auction)  and  not  what  it 
would  sell  for  at  private  sale.  A number  of  farms  in  the  vicinity  of  Watche- 
moket,  the  central  village,  have  been  platted  and  more  or  less  lots  sold  there- 
from. This  with  the  wonderful  growth  of  Riverside,  the  village  at  the 
southern  end  of  the  town,  is  an  indication  of  the  increase  in  valuation  of 


3 


18 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


the  town  during  the  past  few  years.  The  farming  lands  are  not  in  as  good 
condition  as  a rule  as  formerly,  and  are  evidently  assessed  at  about  their  full 
value.  The  Board  could  not  obtain  a large  list  of  sales  from  the  records 
where  the  actual  consideration  was  expressed,  but  from  the  number  ob- 
tained, showing  transfers  of  village  property,  the  assessed  value  was  found 
to  be  83  per  cent,  of  the  selling  price.  The  assessors  claim  their  valuation 
of  real  estate  is  high  as  compared  with  other  towns,  but  the  evidence  would 
tend  to  show  that  the  highest  valuations  are  put  upon  the  outlying  districts, 
and  not  upon  the  more  improved  property  in  the  centres  of  the  villages. 
Weighing  carefully  all  the  information  obtained  from  every  source,  the 
Board  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  assessors  have  valued  the  real  estate  exclu- 
sive of  mills  and  railroad  property  at  87  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  the  lat- 
ter amount  being  $5,560,643. 

The  assessors  appeared  to  have  valued  manufacturing  and  railroad  proper- 
ties at  their  full  value,  and  the  Board  have  accepted  their  estimates  thereof, 
excepting  the  personal  property  of  mills,  and  find  the  total  valuation  of  the 
real  estate  of  the  town  to  be  $6,677,918. 

The  assessors  claim  of  their  intention  to  tax  personal  property  at  full  value 
seems  hardly  substantiated  by  the  evidence  obtained  by  the  Board.  The 
inventories  of  estates  usually  show  considerable  excess  over  the  assessed 
values  thereof.  The  population  of  the  town  has  increased  from  2,668  in  1870 
to  8,428  in  1890.  The  community  being  very  largely  composed  of  a thrifty 
class  of  people.  Deducting  from  the  personal  valuation  the  amounts  as- 
sessed against  corporations  and  a few  individuals,  there  remains  but  a com- 
paratively small  amount  to  represent  the  personal  property  of  8,400  inhabi- 
tants. 

The  Board  have  concluded  that  the  local  assessment  of  this  class  of  proper- 
to  is  80  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  thereof,  the  true  value  being  $1,105,601. 

The  assessors’ valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $5,836,682;  personal,  $928,029  ; 
total,  $6,764,711.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real,  $5,955,035; 
personal,  $884,481  ; total,  $6,839,516.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of 
1873  was,  real,  $3,227,212;  personal,  $563,325  ; total,  $3,790,537.  The  Board’s 
valuation  is,  real,  $6,677,918  ; personal,  $1,105,601  ; total,  $7,783,519. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


19 


PAAVTUCKET. 

The  Board  gave  a considerable  amount  of  time  and  careful  attention  to  the 
City  of  Pawtucket,  as  one  of  the  thriving  business  centres  of  the  State,  and 
they  were  pleased  to  recognize  the  carefulness  with  which  the  assessors  en- 
tered into  the  details  of  their  work.  The  plan  of  assessment  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  assessors  of  Providence,  and  the  intention  of  the  assessors  as 
stated  by  them  is  to  assess  at  a full,  fair,  cash  value,  their  understanding  of 
that  expression  as  applied  to  real  estate  being  what  the  property  would  sell 
for  under  favorable  circumstances.  There  was  about  the  years  1886  and  1887, 
a radical  change  made  in  the  valuation  of  general  real  estate,  as  a result  of 
which  the  valuation  thereof  was  considerably  increased.  The  Board  is  of 
the  opinion  that  since  that  time  the  assessors  have  approximated  as  closely 
to  the  intent  of  the  statute  as  could  be  reasonably  expected,  making  ordinary 
allowances  for  those  errors  of  judgment  common  to  mankind,  not  even  ex- 
cepting assessors  of  taxes. 

The  city  has  grown  rapidly^and  the  assessors  have  apparently  kept  pace 
with  its  growth.  There  was  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  any  record  of  sales 
with  actual  consideration  expressed,  from  which  the  Board  could  make  any 
estimates,  and  therefore  in  fixing  their  value  of  the  general  real  estate  they 
have  depended  largely  upon  the  statements  of  the  assessors  and  a personal 
inspection  of  the  property. 

In  the  matter  of  railroad  valuation  the  Board  have  made  but  few  changes 
and  they  find  that  the  true  value  of  the  railroad  property  is,  $666,639,  as 
against  $595,177,  the  valuation  of  the  local  assessors. 

In  the  valuation  of  the  mill  property,  the  Board  find  that,  while  the  asses- 
sors have  given  the  subject  careful  attention,  they  have  been  dependent,  to 
a considerable  extent,  upon  the  statements  made  to  them,  while  they  were 
inspecting  the  mills  for  the  purpose  of  valuation,  by  the  owners  of  such 
property.  The  Board  made  a careful  inspection  of  all  the  mills,  and  have 
found  it  necessary  to  revise  the  findings  of  the  local  assessors,  the  Board 
making  the  real  estate  of  the  mills,  $3,630,371,  as  against  $3,151,811,  of  the 
local  assessors  of  1890,  and  making  the  personal  valuation  of  mills  $3,440,868 
as  against  $2,660,700,  the  assessors’  valuation. 

Deducting  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  railroads  and  of  the  mill 
real  estate,  the  Board  find  the  local  valuation  of  the  general  real  estate 


20 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION, 


to  be  $16,050,412,  and  they  have  determined,  after  taking  into  consid- 
eration all  the  matters  alpove  referred  to,  that  this  amount  is  95  per  cent,  of 
the  true  value  of  the  general  real  estate,  which  true  value  is  $17,526,749. 
Adding  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  mills  and  their  valuation 
of  railroads,  the  Board  find  the  true  value  of  the  entire  real  estate  to  be 
$21,823,759. 

Belative  to  the  personal  property  valuation,  the  Board  have  considered 
the  part  which  appears  from  the  tax  book,  that  a very  small  number  of  the 
tax-payers  are  assessed  for  amounts  over  $300. 

The  Board  have  further  considered  the  statements  of  the  assessors  regard- 
ing such  valuation,  that  the  inventories  of  estates  have  shown  a considerable 
excess  as  a rule  over  the  assess  values,  and  that  they  have  given  a certain 
amount  of  lee-way  in  the  valuation  of  mortgages,  and  as  it  appears  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Board  that  a number  of  individuals  have  escaped  proper 
taxation,  the  Board  have  determined  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  the  gen- 
eral personal  estate  is  82  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation.  Deducting  the 
assessed  personal  valuation  of  mills,  from  the  assessed  total  personal  valua- 
tion, the  Board  find  the  balance  of  $2,581,760,  representing  the  82  per  cent, 
above  referred  to,  which  true  valuation  is  $3,148,487.  Adding  to  this  amount 
the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  personal  of  mills  makes  the  Board’s  total  per- 
sonal valuation,  $6,589,355. 

The  valuation  of.  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $19,334,018;  personal, 
$5,061,907  ; total,  $24,395,925.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $20,397,400  ; personal,  $5,242,460  ; total,  $25,639,860.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $5,161,737  ; personal,  $1,825,405  ; total, 
$6,987,142.  The  present  valuation  of  Pawtucket  for  purposes  of  State  taxa- 
tion is  $17,839,212.  The  difference  between  this  amount  and  the  valuation 
by  the  State  Board  of  1873  was  obtained  by  the  State  authorities  from  the 
large  territory  taken  from  North  Providence,  and  annexed  to  Pawtucket  in 
1874. 

The  valuation  of  the  Board  is,  real,  $21,823,759  ; personal,  $6,589,355 ; 
total,  $28,413,114. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


21 


LINCOLN. 

This  town  contains,  among  other  communities,  the  villages  of  Saylesville 
and  of  Central  Falls,  the  latter  being  in  reality  a continuation  of  the  City  of 
Pawtucket  There  has  not  been  the  development  of  property  in  the  village 
of  Central  Falls,  that  one  would  expect  to  find  from  the  great  increase  in 
population  in  that  district  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

But  the  section  including  the  villages  of  Manville  and  Saylesville  have 
shown  marked  improvement  according  to  the  information  obtained  by  the 
Board.  The  assessors  state  that  some  of  the  farming  lands  have  increased  in 
value,  while  others  have  decreased  in  value  during  the  past  seventeen  years, 
while  on  the  whole  there  has  been  but  little  change 

The  list  of  such  transfers  as  the  Board  obtained  from  the  records  showed 
the  assessed  value  to  be  slightly  in  excess  of  95  per  cent  of  the  selling  price. 
Facts  concerning  the  sales  of  a number  of  pieces  of  property  in  Central  Falls 
were  given  to  the  Board  by  the  assessors  and  others 

These  facts  disclosed,  to  some  extent,  the  assessors’  method  of  valuation  of 
Central  Falls  property.  With  all  the  difficulties  in  their  way,  the  Board  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  considerable  information,  upon  which  they  have  based 
their  finding,  that  the  assessment  of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mill  and  rail- 
road property,  is  90  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  thereof,  which  true  value  is 
ascertained  to  be  $6,054,028 

The  assessors  do  not  seem  to  have  any  method  or  system  of  obtaining  the 
valuation  of  mill  property.  It  is  largely  guess  work,  and  in  many  cases  the 
valuations  are  inheritances  from  former  assessors  The  Board  therefore  did 
not  take  the  assessors’  valuations  as  bases  upon  which  to  work,  but,  after  a 
thorough  examination  of  mill  property,  computed  the  valuation  thereof 
directly  from  their  own  standard.  They  thus  found  the  mill  valuation  to  be 
real,  $2,525,000 ; and  personal,  $1,809,050,  while  the  assessors’  valuation  of 
the  same  property  was,  real,  $2,122,600,  and  personal,  $1,391,000. 

The  Board  accepted  the  assessors’  valuation  of  railroad  property  as  correct, 
and  from  all  these  estimates  they  have  determined  the  total  valuation  of  real 
estate  to  be  $8,800,028. 

The  assessors  stated  that  they  taxed  mortgages  at  full  value,  but  did  not 
tax  railroad  stock  at  all,  neither  do  they  tax  live-stcck,  farming  tools  or  per- 
sonal effects. 


22 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


They  further  stated  that  they  allowed  a little  lee-way  in  the  assessment  of 
estates,  where  inventories  had  been  returned,  and  that  as  a rule  these  inven- 
tories showed  the  assessment  to  have  been  under  the  value  of  the  estates. 
They  asserted  that  they  tax  all  that  they  can,  and  also  stated  that  we  don’t 
require  an  oath  because  we  don’t  think  it  does  any  good.”  Considering  all 
the  information  that  the  Board  could  obtain,  and  the  fact  of  the  increase  in 
population  from  7,889  in  1870  to  20,350,  the  Board  believe  that  a fair  estimate 
of  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property,  exclusive  of  mill  personal 
property,  would  be,  that  it  is  80  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  thereof,  this  true 
value  being  $1,428,250  The  Board’s  total  valuation  of  personal  property  is 
therefore  found  to  be  $3,237,300. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1§89  was,  real,  $7,644,000  ; personal, 
$2,440,300 ; total,  $10,084,300  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $7,792,225  ; personal,  $2,533,600  ; total,  $10,325,825.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $6,488,395  ; personal,  $2,097,628  ; total, 
$8  586,023.  The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $8,800,028  ; personal,  $3,237,300  ; 
total,  $12,037,328.  ♦ 


SMITHFIELD. 

The  assessors  do  not  examine  each  parcel  of  real  estate,  but  take  the  valu- 
ation thereof  found  in  the  tax  book  of  the  preceding  year,  and  change  the 
same  when  improvements  are  made. 

They  claim  to  assess  at  full,  fair,  cash  value,  and  further  say  that  they  are 
governed  somewhat  by  the  sales 

The  record  of  transfers  obtained  by  the  Board,  showed  that  the  assessed 
value  of  the  property  sold  was  about  90  per  cent  of  the  price  obtained.  The 
increase  in  the  value  of  property  in  the  town  during  the  past  few  years,  has 
been  offset  in  part  by  the  decrease  in  the  value  of  certain  mill  properties. 
The  Board  did  not  find  it  easy  to  obtain  all  the  information  desired,  but 
from  such  as  they  could  get,  have  determined  that  the  assessed  value  of  real 
estate,  exclusive  of  mills  and  railroad,  is  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which 
the  Board  find  to  be  $912,398. 

They  ascertain  from  the  tax-lists  that  mill  property  has  greatly  depreciated 
in  value  since  1873,  but  that  with  due  allowance  for  depreciation,  the  assess- 
ment for  1890  should  be  slightly  increased.  They  find  also  that  the  assess- 
ment of  railroad  property  is  much  below  its  value,  and  taking  their  estimates 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


23 


of  these  different  classes  of  property  together,  they  determine  the  valuation 
of  the  total  real  estate  to  be  $1,487,398 
The  assessors’  statements  respecting  personal  property,  disclose  the  fact 
that  they  do  not  tax  Bank  stock  at  full  value  but  at  par  ; that  they  do  not 
tax  live  stock  or  farming  tools  ; and  that  the  inventories  of  estates  usually 
show  a much  larger  amount  than  such  property  has  been  assessed  for 
It  also  appears  that  they  allow  a considerable  margin  for  the  individual  in 
assessing  this  kind  of  property. 

These  facts,  taken  with  the  Board’s  information  relative  to  Savings’  Bank 
deposits,  have  led  them  to  consider  the  assessed  valuation  of  personal  prop- 
erty, exclusive  of  mills,  to  be  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  and  this  sum  they 
compute  to  be  $547,600  The  mill  property  shows  a large  falling  off  in  its 
personal  valuation  from  the  assessment  of  1873,  but  the  Board  believe  that 
the  assessors  have  not  made  a correct  estimate  of  this  kind  of  property. 
They  have  therefore  made  the  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  mills 
$243,000,  and  thus  determine  the  total  personal  valuation  to  be  $790,600. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,234,000  ; personal, 
$542,000;  total,  $1,776,500.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$1,240,539  ; personal,  $533,700  ; total,  $1,774,239  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,422,906  ; personal,  $913,680  ; total,  $2,236,586. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,487,398  ; personal,  $790,600;  total, 
$2,277,998. 


NORTH  SMITHFIELD. 

The  village  of  Slatersville,  owned  almost  entirely  by  one  individual,  is  the 
most  populous  portion  of  the  town,  and  with  the  exception  of  Union  Village 
is  the  most  valuable. 

The  assessors  seems  to  have  no  actual  standard  of  real  estate  valuation,  but 
apparently  in  the  valuation  of  Slatersville  consider  it  as  one  parcel  of  prop- 
erty. They  claim  to  value  farming  land  at  about  two-thirds  of  its  fair,  cash 
value,  but  the  Board  are  inclined  to  believe  that  the  assessors  were  mistaken 
in  this  statement,  as  a list  of  sales  from  the  records  of  transfers,  disclosing 
the  actual  consideration  and  including  the  transfers  of  a number  of  farm 
properties,  shows  the  assessed  value  to  have  been  about  96  per  cent,  of  the 
selling  price.  The  Board  have  determined  therefore  that  considering  this 
record  and  the  conditions  of  valuation  in  Union  Village  and  near  Waterford, 


24 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


that  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  Slatersville,  mill  properties 
and  railroads,  is  90  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which  is  thus  ascertained  to 
be  $760,888. 

In  relation  to  Slatersville,  the  Board  found  it  necessary  to  adjust  the  valu- 
ation by  more  equitably  distributing  the  valuation  between  the  classes  of 
real  and  personal  property  The  assessment  of  other  mill  properties  the 
Board  found  to  have  been  fairly  made,  and  the  railroads  they  considered  to 
have  been  somewhat  under-valued  By  the  revision  of  these  several  valua- 
tions, the  Board  have  ascertained  the  total  valuation  of  the  real  estate  to  be 
$1,693,888 

Owing  to  the  assessors’  statements,  that  they  do  not  assess  an  individual 
quite  all  that  they  think  him  to  be  worth;  and  that  they  do  not  tax  live  stock, 
farming  tools,  &c.,  or  mortgages  always  at  face  value  ; and  that  inventories 
of  estates  show  a larger  amount  than  the  assessed  value,  the  Board  have  con- 
cluded that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property  exclusive  of  mills 
is  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  is  found  to  be  $589,494  Adding  to  this 
amount  the  Board’s  valuation  of  personal  property,  fixes  the  total  valuation 
of  the  personal  property  at  $1,105,494 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,466,950  ; personal, 
$871,550  ; total,  $2,338,500.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$1,516,350  ; personal,  $861,070  ; total,  $2,377,420  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,589,066  ; personal,  $1,092,050  ; total,  $2,681,116. 
The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,693,888 ; personal,  $1,105,494  ; total, 
$2,799,382. 


WOONSOCKET. 

The  assessors  do  not  seem  to  have  any  particular  system  in  the  valuation 
of  either  real  or  personal  property. 

They  are  usually  selected  from  different  portions  of  the  city,  and  the 
Board  apparently  relies  upon  the  knowledge  which  each  assessor  possesses 
of  the  locality  in  which  he  resides  The  expressed  intention  of  the  assessors 
is  to  value  real  estate  at  about  what  it  would  bring  at  forced  sale.  The  state- 
ment was  made  that  a general  reduction  of  10  per  cent  on  general  real  estate 
valuation  occurred  a few  years  ago,  but  subsequently  during  the  examina- 
tion of  the  assessors,  this  statement  was  modified  so  as  to  apply  to  a portion 
of  the  real  property  only  instead  of  the  real  estate  in  general. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


25 


The  record  of  sales  as  obtained  by  the  Board  indicates  the  property  trans- 
ferred, was  assessed  at  about  80  per  cent,  of  the  selling  price.  After  a 
lengthy  examination  of  the  board  of  assessors  and  a personal  inspection  of 
the  property,  the  Board  found  that  there  had  not  been  the  increase  in  sub- 
stantial building,  and  therefore  the  increase  in  value  of  real  estate  that  they 
were  led  to  expect  from  the  census  return,  which  showed  a large  increase  in 
population  The  Board  had  much  difficulty  in  getting  sufficiently  definite 
information  from  the  local  assessors  to  guide  them,  and  the  results  which 
they  have  arrived  at  have  been  largely  determined  by  their  personal  investi- 
gations and  by  information  obtained  from  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of 
the  city. 

In  relation  to  mill  property  the  Board  find  that  the  assessors  have  in  a 
number  of  instances  included  the  personal  property  in  the  real  valuation  and 
generally  to  have  assessed  the  mill  property  without  any  substantial  basis 
for  their  action.  The  Board  have  been  compelled  therefore  in  their  valua- 
tion of  mill  property,  to  separate  the  personal  from  the  real  in  many  instan- 
ces. The  result  of  this  action  is  that  the  real  valuation  of  the  mills  is  made 
lower  than  the  assessors’.  The  Board’s  estimate  of  the  real  value  of  mills  is 
$2,480,100,  as  against  $2,810,400  of  the  local  assessors,  while  the  Board’s  per- 
sonal of  mills,  after  making  the  transfer  from  the  real  to  the  personal  column 
above  referred  to,  is  $1,500,700  as  against  $291,200  of  the  local  assessors. 
The  Board  find  that,  after  deducting  the  assessed  real  estate  of  the  mills  and 
of  the  railroads  from  the  general  real  estate,  the  balance  of  the  general  real 
estate  amounting  to  $5,411,600  is  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  making 
$6,366,587  as  the  Board's  value  of  the  general  real  estate  of  the  city. 

The  Board  made  no  change  in  the  valuation  of  railroads,  and  therefore 
adding  to  the  Board’s  estimate  of  the  general  real  estate,  their  estimate  of 
the  real  estate  of  mills,  and  the  assessed  valuation  of  railroads,  the  Board’s 
value  of  the  total  real  estate  of  the  town  is  found  to  be  $9,211,687. 

In  the  taxation  of  personal  property  the  assessors  appear  to  assess  at  less 
than  the  true  value.  This  is  evidenced  by  their  neglect  to  tax  such  property 
as  railroad  stocks  when  selling  above  par,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  inven- 
tories of  estates  show  amounts  largely  in  excess  of  the  assessed  value. 

Taking  these  facts  into  account  and  considering  also  the  amount  of  money 
invested  and  deposited  in  financial  institutions  in  the  city,  the  Board  deter- 
mine that  the  balance  of  the  personal  property  after  deducting  the  personal 
valuation  of  mills,  (the  balance  being  $1,536,480)  is  85  per  cent,  of  the  true 
value,  making  such  true  value  $1,807,623,  which  in  addition  to  the  Board’s 


4 


26 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  mills  makes  the  Board's  total  valua- 
tion $3,308,323.  • 

The  large  decrease  in  the  personal  valuation  of  the  city  as  appears  by  the 
tax  lists  of  1890,  compared  with  the  tax  lists  of  1873  is  explained  by  the  asses- 
sors to  have  been  occasioned  by  the  loss  of  large  amounts  of  mill  personal 
property  arising  from  the  claim  of  indebtedness  by  the  mill  owners. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $8,142,200  ; personal, 
$1,811,775  ; total,  $9,953,975.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $8,587,000  ; personal,  $1,827,680;  total,  $10,414,680.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $8,479,595  ; personal,  $3,017,967  ; total, 
$11,497,562.  The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $9,211,687  ; personal,  $3,308,323; 
total,  $12,520,010. 


CUMBERLAND. 

\ 

The  town  contains  a large  area  of  farming  land,  also  a number  of  thriving 
mill  villages,  and  the  large  village  of  Valley  Falls.  The  farms  are  in  good 
condition,  and  are  generally  considered  to  represent  considerable  value. 
They  appear  to  be  assessed  generally  at  nearly  their  full  value.  Large 
tracts  of  land  adjoining  two  or  three  of  the  more  prosperous  villages  are 
owned  by  corporations,  and  held  by  them  to  be  sold  only  under  certain 
restrictions.  There  is  evidence  of  considerable  demand  for  this  kind  of 
property  and  also  of  but  few  sales  of  the  same.  Sales  when  made  show  that 
good  prices  are  obtained,  but  the  assessors  have  placed  an  exceedingly  low 
valuation  upon  the  property,  claiming  that  it  was  the  policy  of  the  town  to 
act  liberally  towards  manufacturing  corporations.  There  are  very  few  trans- 
fers on  the  record  books  which  disclose  the  actual  consideration  paid,  and 
the  Board  were  compelled  to  obtain  most  of  their  information  from  the 
assessors  and  other  citizens,  and  from  their  inspection  of  the  property  and 
comparisons  of  the  assessed  values  of  different  pieces  of  property  with  the 
assessments  of  other  years.  The  assessors  informed  the  Board  that  they 
were  compelled  to  obtain  their  information  in  much  the  same  way,  but  they 
admitted  that,  when  they  knew  the  price  paid  for  a piece  of  property,  they 
were  apt  to  “shade  it”  somewhat  in  the  assessment.  The  policy  of  the 
assessors  according  to  their  statements  seems  to  be  to  assess  property  at  less 


27 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 

than  its  full  value,  their  interpretation  of  the  expression  full,  fair,  cash  value, 
being  what  property  would  bring  at  auction  sale. 

The  Board  have  concluded  that,  taking  all  these  facts  into  consideration, 
the  assessed  value  of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mill  and  railroad  property,  is 
80  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  the  latter  amount  being  $2,997,840. 

The  Board  made  a very  thorough  inspection  of  the  mill  property,  and  ap- 
plied their  system  of  valuation  to  the  same  with  great  care,  and  the  result  of 
their  computations  showed  that  the  assessors  had  somewhat  under-valued 
this  class  of  property,  the  Board’s  estimate  being,  real,  $2,419,638,  and  per- 
sonal, $1,924,450,  and  the  local  assessment  being,  real,  $2,274,550,  and  per- 
sonal, $1,446,579. 

Adding  to  these  findings  of  the  Board,  their  estimate  of  the  value  of  rail- 
road property,  (slightly  in  excess  of  the  local  assessment),  the  Board’s  valua- 
tion of  the  entire  real  estate  is  found  to  be  $5,829,978. 

There  is  but  a comparatively  small  assessment  of  the  personal  property  of 
individuals  in  the  town  Two-thirds  of  the  entire  personal  valuation  is  as- 
sessed to  mill  corporations.  The  number  of  individuals  assessed  is  also  com- 
paratively small,  and  a considerable  number  of  these  are  assessed  for  small 
amounts  to  qualify  them  to  vote  for  certain  officers  The  assessors  do  not 
tax  railroad  stock  or  mortgages  They  assess  Bank  stock  at  par  although 
the  value  thereof  may  be  greatly  in  excess  of  par.  They  state  that  inven- 
tories of  property  have  usually  shown  larger  amounts  than  the  assessed  value 
of  the  property.  Having  all  these  circumstances  in  mind  and  considering 
the  increase  in  population  of  over  100  per  cent  since  1873,  the  Board  have 
determined  that  the  local  assessment  of  personal  property  exclusive  of  mills 
is  80  per  cent  of  its  true  value,  the  true  value  being  $979,875. 

This  amount  added  to  the  Board’s  estimate  of  the  personal  property  of 
mills  makes  the  true  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  the  town, 
$2,904,325. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $4,743,032  ; personal, 
$2,253,767  ; total,  $6,996,779.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $5,018,422  ; personal,  $2,230,479  ; total,  $7,248,901.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $3,860,966  ; personal,  $2,132,750  ; total, 
$5,993,716.  The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $5,829,978;  personal,  $2,904,325; 
total,  $8,634,303. 


28 


REPORT  OE  BOARD  OE  STATE  VALUATION. 


BUKRILL  V ILL  E. 

This  town  contains  eight  or  ten  manufacturing  villages,  in  some  of  which 
property  appears  to  be  increasing  in  value.  There  is  a large  number  of 
mills  all  owned  by  individuals,  which  exercise  a considerable  influence  upon 
the  valuation  of  the  town.  Farming  property  as  a rule  does  not  seem  to  be 
improving  in  value,  and  the  increase  in  valuation  in  the  town  during  the 
past  seventeen  years  is  due  entirely  to  the  extension  of  manufacturing  plants 
and  to  the  improvements  in  the  larger  villages  The  Board  could  not  get 
much  insight  into  the  condition  of  real  estate  valuation  from  the  records  of 
transfers  ; and  the  assessors’  statements  did  not  indicate  that  they  had  any 
system  upon  which  they  made  their  valuation. 

But  from  all  the  information  which  the  Board  could  obtain,  they  were  of 
the  opinion  that,  making  due  allowances  for  the  close  valuation  of  farming 
property,  the  local  assessment  of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mill  and  railroad 
property,  was  effected  on  $ basis  of  85  per  cent,  of  its  true  value  This  value 
the  Board  have  ascertained  to  be  $1,790,294. 

The  assessors  seem  to  have  no  basis  for  the  valuation  of  mill  property,  and 
in  reality  to  know  little  about  the  conditions  of  this  class  of  property.  The 
Board  have  therefore  applied  their  own  standard  of  valuation  to  the  mill 
property  regardless  of  the  value  put  upon  it  by  the  local  assessors,  and  from 
their  computations  they  have  ascertained  that  this  property  should  be  valued 
real,  $567,500,  and  personal,  $508,000. 

They  also  found  that  railroad  property  was  not  assessed  in  proper  propor- 
tion to  the  valuation  put  upon  the  same  class  of  property  elsewhere,  and 
they  have  computed  the  value  of  this  property  to  be  $360,000.  These  esti- 
mates of  the  Board  being  added,  make  the  true  value  of  the  real  estate  to  be 
$2,717,794. 

The  assessors  claim  to  assess  personal  property  at  its  full  value,  but  the 
inventories  of  estates  show  that  they  have  at  times  largely  under-estimated 
the  value  thereof.  This,  with  other  facts  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Board,  has  assisted  the  Board  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  personal  prop- 
erty, exclusive  of  mills,  has  been  assessed  at  83  per  cent,  of  its  true  value, 
which  latter  amount  is  $776,686.  This  with  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  mill 
personal  property  makes  the  total  personal  valuation,  $1,284,686. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION.  29 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $2,154,550 ; personal, 
$973,400  ; total,  $3,127,950.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real, 
$2,164,850  ; personal,  $879,650  ; total,  $3,044,500.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $2,099,570  ; personal,  $661,900  ; total,  $2,761,470. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $2,717,794  ; personal,  $1,284,686  ; total, 
$4,002,480. 


GLOCESTER. 


The  Board  could  obtain  no  record  of  sales  which  would  assist  them  in  their 
deliberations,  and  procured  all  their  information  from  the  assessors  and  other 
citizens  of  the  town  and  from  a personal  inspection  of  the  property  They 
thus  learned  that  the  western  portion  of  the  town  was  largely  brush  land, 
and  that  the  eastern  portion  of  the  town  consisted  mainly  of  farms  in  a rea- 
sonably good  condition. 

Hearsay  testimony  seemed  to  show  that  prices  obtained  for  property  were 
rarely  in  excess  of  the  assessed  value.  From  the  information  thus  gathered 
the  Board  have  concluded  that  the  real  property  of  the  town  is  valued  at 
100  per  cent,  of  its  full  value. 

There  seems  to  be  quite  a large  amount  of  personal  property  assessed  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  town,  and  to  the  apparent 
circumstances  of  its  citizens,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  valuation  of  the 
personal  property  of  mills,  the  Board  have  determined  to  except  the  assess- 
ors’ valuation.  With  the  changes  which  it  was  deemed  proper  to  make  in 
the  latter  class  of  property,  the  Board  find  the  valuation  of  the  personal 
property  in  the  town  to  be  $677,600. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $847,850 ; personal, 
$544,000  ; total,  $1,391,850.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$840,200  ; personal,  $602,600  ; total,  $1,442,800.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $826,775  ; personal,  $365,000  ; total,  $1,191,775. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $840,200 ; personal,  $677,600 ; total, 
$1,517,800. 


30 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


FOSTER. 

There  is  no  manufacturing  property,  no  railroad  property  and  no  Banking 
Institution  in  this  town,  the  town  being  entirely  given  up  to  farming.  Its 
location  relative  to  business  centre  has  to  be  considered  in  determining  the 
values  of  property.  From  all  the  information  the  Board  can  obtain,  property 
when  offered  for  sale  seems  to  bring  scarcely  its  assessed  value  The  Board 
feel  therefore  that  it  is  proper  for  them  to  accept  the  town’s  estimate  of  itself 
and  to  consider  that  the  assessors  have  assessed  both  the  real  and  personal 
property  of  the  town  at  100  pei;  cent,  of  its  full  value. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $446,425  ; personal,  $96,115  ; 
total,  $542,540.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $511,250  ; 
personal,  $151,400  ; total,  $662,650.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890 
was,  real,  $386,925  ; personal,  $117,700  ; total,  $504,625.  The  Board’s  valua- 
tion being  the  same. 


SC1TXJATE. 

In  this  town  the  assessors  refused  to  meet  the  Board,  although  notified  so 
to  do,  claiming  that  they  could  not  meet  two  days  in  succession,  having  met 
for  local  purposes  the  day  before  the  Board’s  visit.  Much  of  the  information 
was  therefore  obtained  from  the  town  clerk.  The  Board  was  informed  that 
the  assessors  intended  to  tax  real  estate  at  full  value,  which  value  they  ob- 
tained mainly  through  the  transfers,  and  that  they  do  not  make  a personal 
inspection  of  property. 

Property  is  sold  by  the  lot  in  the  villages  of  Hope  and  Jackson  and  brings 
good  prices.  Farming  lands  as  a rule  do  not  bring  more  than  the  assessed 
value.  The  records  of  such  transfers  of  property  as  the  Board  could  obtain 
where  the  actual  consideration  was  expressed,  show  the  assessed  value 
thereof  to  be  90  per  cent,  of  the  selling  price.  From  all  the  information  the 
Board  has  been  able  to  obtain,  they  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  real  estate, 
exclusive  of  the  mill  property,  is  assessed  at  85  per  cent,  of  its  true  value, 
which  is  ascertained  to  be  $1,373,500. 

As  to  the  mill  property  the  Board  find  a slight  increase  in  the  valuation  of 
the  real  property  of  mills  over  that  of  the  assessors,  the  Board’s  valuation 
being  $439,000  and  the  assessors’,  $412,000.  The  Board’s  total  real  valuation 
is  thus  made  $1,812,500. 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


31 


The  Board  could  get  little  or  no  information  relative  to  the  general  per- 
sonal property.  But  from  what  they  have  learned  they  have  decided  to  con- 
sider the  assessors’  valuation  to  be  95  per  cent,  of  the  true  value.  The  Board 
find  a considerable  difference  between  their  valuation  and  the  assessors’  val- 
uation of  the  personal  property  of  mills,  the  Board’s  being  $379,000,  and  the 
assessors  $207,000.  Adding  the  Board’s  estimate  to  its  valuation  of  the  general 
personal  property,  the  total  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  the  town  is 
found  to  be  $966,078. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,625,575  ; personal, 
$777,775  ; total,  $2,403,350.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$1,579,475  ; personal,  $764,625  ; total,  $2,344,200.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,724,731  ; personal,  $985,592  ; total,  $2,710,323. 
The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,812,500  ; personal,  $966,078  ; total, 
$2,778,578. 


JOHNSTON. 

There  are  two  general  classes  of  real  property  in  this  town,  one,  the  “Olney- 
ville  District,”  so  called,  contiguous  to  the  City  of  Providence,  where  land 
approximates  in  value  the  adjoining  land  in  the  city,  and  the  other,  the  re- 
mainder of  the  town  which  is  assessed  practically  as  farming  land. 

The  assessors  claim  to  value  at  a fair,  cash  value,  which  they  believe  to  be 
what  the  property  would  fetch  at  an  ordinary  auction  sale  They  claim, 
however,  not  to  be  altogether  governed  by  the  transfer  price.  A record  of 
transfers  where  the  actual  consideration  wras  expressed  shows  the  assessed 
value  thereof  to  have  been  88  1-2  per  cent  of  the  selling  price.  The  Board 
made  a personal  examination  of  the  property  in  the  town,  and  concluded  to 
separate  it  into  two  classes  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  true  valuation. 
As  one  of  these  classes  they  took  the  Olneyville  section  and  School  District 
No.  15.  Assuming  that  the  assessors’  statement  that  this  represented  three- 
fifths  of  the  valuation  of  all  the  real  estate,  was  correct,  the  Board  deter- 
mined that  this  property  as  assessed,  was  80  per  cent,  of  its  true  value.  The 
other  class  composed  the  farming  districts,  which  were,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Board,  assessed  at  100  per  cent  of  its  value. 

Deducting  the  assessment  of  railroad  property,  the  Board  find  that  the  real 
property  of  the  town  of  all  descriptions  is  valued  at  87  per  cent,  of  its  true 
value,  which  latter  amount  is  thus  ascertained  to  be  $5,630,344,  and  adding 
the  Board’s  valuation  of  railroad  property,  the  total  valuation  of  real  estate 
is  made  $5,730,344. 


32 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


The  Board  have  included  the  valuation  of  the  real  property  of  mills  in  their 
consideration  of  general  real  estate,  as  the  assessors  seem  to  have  made  the 
same  allowance  on  this  class  of  property  as  on  general  real  estate  But  in 
relation  to  the  personal  property  of  mills,  the  Board  found  too  great  a 
discrepancy  between  the  assessed  valuation  and  the  true  valuation,  and 
therefore  applying  their  system  of  valuation  to  this  class  of  property,  they 
found  the  true  value  thereof  to  be  $215,000  instead  of  $60,000  the  local  valu- 
ation. 

In  determining  the  true  value  of  the  general  personal  property,  the  Board 
were  governed  by  the  assessors’  statements  that  they  did  not  always  tax 
mortgages  at  face  values  ; that  they  do  not  specifically  tax  live  stock,  farming 
tools  or  other  goods  and  chattels  ; that  they  do  not  intend  to  “ squeeze  very 
hard”  in  assessing  personal  property,  and  that  the  inventories  of  estates  have 
shown  a greater  valuation  than  the  assessments  thereof.  The  Board  consider 
the  assessed  value  of  personal  property,  exclusive  of  mill  property,  to  be  90 
per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which  latter  amount  is  $784,444.  This  together 
with  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  mill  personal  property  makes  their  total 
personal  valuation  $999,444. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $4,593,800 ; personal, 
$754,700  ; total,  $5,347,500. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real,  $4,973,400  ; personal, 
$766,000  ; total,  $5,739,400.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873  was, 
real,  $3,354,093  ; personal,  $879,300  ; total,  $4,233,393.  The  Board’s  valua- 
tion is,  real,  $5,730,344;  personal,  $999,444;  total,  $6,729,788. 


CRANSTON. 


This  is  one  of  the  few  towns  in  the  State  where  the  assessors  are  elected 
for  a longer  term  than  one  year.  The  value  of  securing  to  the  assessors  this 
tenure  of  office  is  shown  in  this  town  in  the  increased  efficiency  of  these 
officials.  More  attention  is  given  to  systemized  methods  of  valuation  and 
there  is  less  jumping  to  conclusions,  although  the  assessors  have  not  yet 
raised  the  valuation  of  property  to  its  full  value.  There  has  been  considera- 
ble activity  during  the  past  few  years  in  the  development  of  property  in  cer- 
tain villages,  and  the  assessors  have  apparently  endeavored  to  encourage  the 
same  by  a low  valuation  of  this  class  of  property,  their  claim  to  the  Board 
being  that  they  assessed  it  at  about  two-thirds  of  its  value.  But  as  they 
claimed  to  have,  and  apparently  have,  assessed  farming  land  at  nearly  its 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


full  value,  and  as  the  record  of  sales  which  the  Board  obtained  showed  an 
assessed  valuation  of  93  per  cent,  of  the  selling  price,  the  Board  have  con- 
cluded that  the  assessed  valuation  of  real  property,  exclusive  of  mills  and 
railroads,  is  90  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  and  the  Board  ascertain  that 
amount  to  be  $6,197,277. 

The  Board  have  concluded  to  accept  the  assessors’  valuation  of  mill  prop- 
erty as  being  reasonably  fully  valued,  the  amount  being  $1,538,400.  As  the 
railroad  property  is  not  considered  to  be  assessed  at  full  value,  the  Board 
have  placed  a valuation  thereon  of  $530,000,  and  this  amount,  together  with 
the  assessments  above  set  forth,  show  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  entire 
real  estate  to  be  $8,265,677. 

One  of  the  noticeable  features  of  the  assessors’  methods  of  personal  valua- 
tion is  the  issuing  of  individual  notices  each  year  to  personal  property  tax- 
payers, whose  valuation  is  to  be  changed,  and  to  those  whom  they  propose 
to  assess  for  the  first  time.  Live  stock  and  farming  tools  are  not  taxed,  and 
inventories  of  estates  show  some  increase  over  the  assessed  values  of  such 
estates.  The  Board  have  therefore  determined  that  the  assessors  have 
assessed  personal  property  at  about  90  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  making  the 
Board’s  valuation  of  the  personal  property,  $1,217,722. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $6,906,600  ; personal, 
$992,300  ; total,  $7,898,900.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$7,410,950;  personal,  $1,095,950  ; total,  $8,506,900.  The  valuation  of  the 
State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $7,220,277;  personal,  $1,042,200;  total, 
$8,262,477. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $8,265,677  ; personal,  $1,217,722  ; total, 
$9,483,399. 


NEWPORT. 

The  Board’s  examination  of  the  assessors  upon  the  several  occasions  when 
the  Board  visited  Newport,  disclosed  facts,  showing  that  the  assessors  valued 
real  estate  at  a comparatively  small  per  centage  of  its  true  value.  They 
stated  that  they  did  not  value  the  real  estate  of  summer  residents  at  its  full 
cash  value,  for  the  reason  that  the  city  depended  largely  upon  those  people 
for  its  support,  and  that  it  would  therefore  not  be  good  judgment  to  make 
such  a valuation  of  this  class  of  property.  They  claimed  that  their  assess- 
ment averaged  about  75  per  cent,  of  the  full  value  of  the  property.  It  was  also 
shown  that  the  rates  per  foot  of  land  between  Bellevue  Avenue  and  the  Cliffs 


& 


34 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


had  not  been  materially  changed  in  the  assessments  during  the  last  seventeen 
or  eighteen  years  ; that  the  rates  averaged  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  cents 
per  foot  in  the  best  portions  of  the  district  occupied  by  summer  residents, 
while  the  actual  sales  of  and  asking  prices  for  such  land  were  often  above 
one  dollar  per  foot.  Property  in  the  older  portions  of  the  city,  where  com- 
paratively few  changes  have  been  made  in  the  improvements  upon  the  land, 
is  assessed  at  more  nearly  its  true  value,  but  even  here  the  sales  disclosed 
larger  amounts  as  the  consideration  of  the  transfers  than  the  assessed  values 
of  the  property.  The  highest  valuation  of  land  in  the  city  is  for  a small  lot 
on  Thames  street,  where  the  assessment  is  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  per  foot. 
The  average  valuation  of  property  used  for  business  purposes  is  not  over  one 
dollar  per  foot,  while  the  average  valuation  of  property  used  for  dwellings  is 
less  than  twenty  cents  per  foot. 

The  record  sales  reported  by  the  assessors,  of  amounts  of  $10,000  and  under 
show  an  average  assessed  value  of  60.4  per  cent,  of  the  actual  selling  value  ; 
but  while  there  is  a large  portion  of  the  city,  in  which  the  percentage  of 
assessed  value  to  selling  value  will  be  as  little  if  not  less  than  the  percentage 
above  named,  the  Board  have  carefully  considered  in  this  connection  that 
portion  of  the  city  where  but  few  transfers  are  made  and  these  at  a much 
larger  percentage  than  the  above.  The  Board  made  a personal  inspection  of 
the  property  of  the  city,  accompanied  by  the  assessors  with  their  plat  books 
and  gave  the  matter  their  closest  attention  because  of  the  great  difference 
between  the  assessed  and  the  selling  values  as  made  apparent  to  them.  The 
Board  can  but  commend  the  assessors  for  the  manner  in  which  they  meet 
the  difficult  problems  presented  to  them  with  results  so  satisfactory  to*  the 
tax  payers  of  Newport,  as  the  Board  recognizes  the  serious  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  making  an  assessment  equitable  to  the  owner  of  the  little  property 
comprising  a small  lot  of  land  and  a two  thousand  dollar  house,  and  to  the 
owner  of  the  magnificent  estate  comprising  a large  tract  of  land  and  a million 
dollar  palace.  The  Board  recognizing  the  position  of  the  assessors  and 
weighing  carefully  all  the  matters  presented  to  them  for  their  consideration 
have  determined  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  real  estate  is  70  per  cent,  of 
the  true  value,  which  true  value  is  thus  found  to  be  $36,224,143. 

In  relation  to  the  personal  estate  the  statements  of  the  assessors  that  they 
do  not  always  tax  personal  property  at  its  full  value  ; and  that  the  inven- 
tories of  estates  almost  invariably  show  a much  larger  amount  than  the 
assessed  value  ; together  with  the  evidence  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Board  of  the  removal  of  wealthy  citizens  from  other  cities  to  Newport,  with 
the  apparent  purpose  of  escaping  taxation,  and  the  further  evidence  of  large 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


85 


amounts  of  local  capital  being  invested  and  deposited  in  local  financial  insti- 
tutions ; have  controlled  the  Board  in  their  determination,  that  the  local 
assessment  of  personal  property  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  thereof, 
which  true  value  is  thus  found  to  be  $9,151,666. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $24,929,900  ; personal, 
$6,138,100;  total,  $31,062,000.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $25,356,900  ; personal,  $6,863,750 ; total,  $32,220,650.  The  Board’s  val- 
uation is,  real,  $36,224,143  ; personal,  $9,151,666  ; total,  $45,375,809. 


MIDDLETOWN. 

A small  portion  of  this  town  contiguous  to  Newport,  is  held  for  what  is 
called  “ building  land,”  and,  while  the  sales  approximate  closely  to  those  of 
land  just  over  the  line,  the  assessed  value  is  not  in  proportion  to  the  assessed 
value  of  Newport  lands  in  the  same  vicinity.  The  sole  industry  of  the  town 
is  farming,  and  the  land  is  in  a state  of  high  cultivation,  the  town  having 
the  reputation  of  containing  the  best  farming  lands  in  the  State.  The  asses- 
sors claim  that  they  assess  real  estate  at  about  two-thirds  of  its  true  value, 
and  the  Board  found  it  difficult  to  substantiate  or  refute  this  statement  by 
the  record  of  sales,  because  the  transfers  failed  to  show  the  actual  consider- 
ation. But  from  the  information  that  the  Board  could  obtain  from  various 
sources  they  determine  that  the  assessors  have  assessed  the  entire  real  estate 
at  a higher  rate  than  they  at  first  led  the  Board  to  believe,  and  the  Board 
found  the  assessed  value  of  the  real  estate  in  1890,  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  j^rue 
valuation,  making  the  true  valuation  $2,481,266,  as  against  $1,860,950  of  the 
local  assessment  of  1890. 

The  assessors’  statements  relative  to  personal  property  would  suggest  the 
inference  that  it  was  greatly  undervalued.  The  inventories  of  estates  espec- 
ially showing  large  increase  over  the  assessed  value.  Their  claim  that  they 
assess  this  class  of  property  at  about  two-thirds  or  three-quarters  of  its  actual 
value  is  therefore  accepted  in  part  by  the  Board,  who  determined  that  the 
assessed  valuation  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  which  latter  the 
Board  estimate  to  be  $601,333,  as  against  $451,000,  the  town’s  assessment. 

The  assesors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,749,750  ; personal,  $523,300  ; 
total,  $2,273,050.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $1,860,950  ; per- 
sonal, $451,000  ; total,  $2,311,950.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was,  real,  $2,295,500 ; personal,  $482,650 ; total,  $2,778,150.  The  Board’s 
valuation  is,  real,  $2,481,266  ; personal,  $601,333  ; total,  $3,082,599. 


36 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


POBTSMOUTH. 

This  town  includes  not  only  a portion  of  tile  Island  of  Rhode  Island,  but 
also  Prudence,  Patience,  Hope  and  Hog  Islands.  The  assessors  claim  a de- 
crease in  the  value  of  farming  land,  of  which  the  town  is  almost  wholly  com- 
posed, during  the  past  sixteen  years,  but  at  the  same  time  they  assert  that 
their  own  valuation  of  the  real  estate  is  about  two-thirds  of  its  true  value. 
There  is  but  one  manufacturing  concern  now  in  operation  in  the  town,  the 
“fish  works”  so  called,  as  compared  with  several  concerns,  such  as  the 
“ copper  works,”  in  active  operation  in  1873.  This  will  account  for  the  ap- 
parent depreciation  in  the  total  assessed  valuation  of  to-day  from  that  of 
1873.  The  Board  have  considered  the  valuation  of  the  “fish  works”  to- 
gether with  the  valuation  of  the  railroad  in  connection  with  the  valuation  of 
the  general  real  property  of  the  town,  and  they  find  from  all  the  information 
they  could  obtain,  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  real  estate  is  about  80 
per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which  is  $1,957,500,  in  comparison  writh  the  as- 
sessed valuation  of  $1,506,000. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property  discloses  to  some  extent  the 
same  peculiar  condition  of  things  as  existed  in  the  town  of  Middletown,  and 
the  Board  have  from  the  facts  presented  to  them,  considered  the  local  assess- 
ment to  be  80  per  cent  of  the  true  valuation,  and  find  the  true  valuation  to 
be  $566,250,  as  against  $453,000. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,564,700  ; personal,  $420,200  ; 
total,  $1,983,900.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  wTas,  real,  $1,566,000  ; per- 
sonal, $453,000  ; total,  $2,019,000.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was  real,  $2,093,067  ; personal,  $523,700  ; total,  $2,616,767. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,957,500 ; personal,  $566,250  ; total, 
$2,523,750. 


TIVEETOJSr. 

As  only  two  of  the  seven  assessors  of  this  town  met  the  Board,  the  latter 
were  obliged  to  obtain  all  their  information  from  an  examination  of  these 
two  and  from  the  town  clerk. 

This  information  disclosed  that  the  assessors  did  not  intend  to  tax  the  full 
value  of  the  property.  The  Board  found  from  a personal  inspection  of  the 
property  and  from  the  statements  of  the  assessors  that  the  local  assessment 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


S7 


was  considerably  under  the  true  value.  They  found  that  the  particular  in- 
crease in  value  occurred  in  the  portions  of  the  town  near  Fall  River,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  railroad  station.  While  the  information  obtained  was 
meagre,  the  Board  were  yet  able  to  determine  that  the  assessors’  valuation 
of  the  real  estate  was  about  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation.  The  real 
estate  valuation  of  mill  property  was  found  to  be  more  fully  valued  than  the 
Board  anticipated  from  the  valuation  of  the  general  real  estate  by  the  assess- 
sors,  and  have  figured  an  increase  of  only  $10,000  on  this  class  of  property. 
The  railroad  property  has  since  the  location  of  the  road  in  the  town  had  but 
a nominal  value  placed  upon  it,  and  the  Board  have  considered  it  in  connec- 
tion with  the  general  real  estate  of  the  town.  The  Board’s  estimate  of  the 
real  estate  value  of  mills  is  $196,000,  as  against  $186,000  of  the  local  assessors, 
and  the  balance  of  the  real  estate  of  the  town,  the  Board  considers  to  be 
assessed  at  85  per  cent,  of  its  true  value.  This  true  value  together  with  the 
true  value  of  mills  the  Board  find  to  be  $1,745,824,  as  against  the  local  valu- 
ation of  1890  of  $1,502,926. 

Concerning  the  valuation  of  personal  property  the  Board  find  that  mort- 
gages are  not  taxed  full  value,  and  that  inventories  of  estates  invariably  show 
an  increase  over  the  assessed  value.  They  also  find  that  the  valuation  of  the 
personal  property  of  mills  is  less  than  the  true  value  by  $47,000,  which  true 
value  they  find  to  be  $527,000.  Taking  into  consideration  the  statements  of 
the  assessors,  the  Board  find  the  valuation  of  general  personal  property  to 
be  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  and  that  this  true  value  together  with  the 
true  value  of  mill  personal  property  amounts  to  $908,900,  as  against  $800,865 
of  the  local  assessment  of  1890. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,450,466  ; personal, 
$780,176  ; total,  $2,230,642.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $1,502,926  ; personal,  $S00,365  ; total,  $2,303,291.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,227,637  ; personal,  $555,915  ; total, 
$1,783,552. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,745,324 ; personal,  $903,900 ; total, 
$2,649,224. 


38 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


LITTLE  COMPTON. 

There  are  no  printed  copies  of  the  tax  lists  in  this  town,  and  the 'Board 
therefore  have  experienced  much  difficulty  in  making  its  comparisons  of 
yearly  valuations.  They  found  that  there  were  two  classes  of  real  property 
in  the  town,  one,  that  included  in  the  Seaconnet  Point  location,  and  the 
other  the  general  farming  and  village  property.  Outside  of  the  Point  prop- 
erty the  assessors  claim  to  value  at  70  or  80  per  cent,  of  the  actual  value, 
while  as  to  the  “ Point  ” property  there  seems  to  be  little  intention  to  tax  at 
anything  like  its  true  value.  It  was  impossible  to  obtain  the  records  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  sales  where  the  consideration  was  expressed,  to  give  the 
Board  needed  assistance,  but  from  the  assessors’  statements  and  from  a per- 
sonal inspection  of  the  property,  the  Board  have  determined  that  the  asses- 
sors’ value  of  the  real  estate  outside  of  the  “Point”  is  80  per  cent,  of  the 
true  value.  In  relation  to  the  “Point”  property  the  Board  could  find  no 
other  means  to  arrive  at  a proper  conclusion  than  to  put  as  fair  a value  as 
possible  upon  the  several  estates  in  that  section.  By  their  estimates  they 
found  an  increase  in  value  of  this  kind  of  property  of  $151,000. 

The  valuation  of  the  “ Point  ” so  increased,  added  to  the  Board’s  valuation 
of  the  remainder  of  the  town,  makes  the  true  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of 
the  town  $1,351,187. 

The  Board  find  a larger  proportion  of  personal  valuation  to  the  real  than 
is  in  many  of  the  towns  of  the  State,  but  also  find  that  the  same  difficulties 
are  experienced  by  the  assessors  of  this  town,  in  the  valuation  of  this  class 
of  property  as  beset  the  assessors  in  other  towns  of  the  State.  The  Board 
have  determined  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property  is  90  per 
cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  wliich  is  $535,555,  as  against  $482,000  of  the  local 
assessors  of  1890. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $941,100  ; personal, 
$504,700  ; total,  $1,445,800.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$967,150  ; personal,  $482,000;  total,  $1,449,150.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $923,285  ; personal,  $352,800  ; total,  $1,276,085. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,351,187  ; personal,  $535,555 ; total, 
$1,886,742. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


39 


JAMESTOWN. 

Great  changes  have  taken  place  on  Conanicut  Island  during  the  last  few 
years.  The  southern  portion  of  the  Island  has  grown  with  wonderful  rapid- 
ity, while  the  northern  portion  of  the  Island,  from  which  a few  years  ago 
much  was  expected,  seems  to  have  hardly  retained  the  values  of  that  time. 

The  Board  visited  the  Island  on  two  separate  occasions  a year  apart  and 
upon  their  second  visit  obtained  much  information,  which  they  had  found 
it  difficult  to  obtain  upon  their  first  visit.  The  Board  found  the  assessors 
very  unwilling  to  enlighten  them  upon  the  condition  of  real  estate  values 
during  their  first  examination,  but  for  some  reason  or  other  deemed  it  best 
to  assist  the  Board  in  their  efforts  to  secure  information  at  the  time  of  the 
second  examination.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  system  in  the  method 
of  valuation  of  the  real  estate,  but,  as  the  assessors  state,  a leeway  is  al- 
lowed, greater  or  less,  as  the  occasion  warrants.  The  record  of  sales  for  the 
first  six  months  of  the  year  1890,  show  the  taxed  value  to  be  about  73  per 
cent,  of  the  true  value.  But  the  record  of  sales  for  a period  of  three  or  four 
years  almost  entirely  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  town,  show  the  taxed 
value  to  be  about  65  per  cent,  of  the  true  value.  As  most  of  the  sales  and 
the  highest  values  of  property  are  in  this  portion  of  the  town,  the  assessors’ 
statements  that  they  tax  this,  i.  e.,  the  Dumplings  property  at  about  two- 
thirds  of  its  value,  and  other  property  about  75  or  80  per  cent,  of  its  value, 
enables  the  Board  to  ascertain  quite  accurately  the  true  basis  of  valuation  in 
the  town.  This  the  Board  found  to  be  70  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which 
latter  valuation  of  the  real  estate  is  thus  made  $2,094,500,  as  against 
$1,466,150  of  the  local  assessment  of  1890. 

In  relation  to  the  personal  property  the  Board  can  find  but  very  little  upon 
which  to  make  an  assessment,  and  they  have  therefore  considered  the  per- 
sonal valuation  to  be  100  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  viz  : — $363,800. 

The  valuation'  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,264,350  ; personal, 
$370,560 ; total,  $1,634,910.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$1,466,150  ; personal,  $363,800  ; total,  $1,829,950.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $547,167  ; personal,  $120,400  ; total,  $667,567. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $2,094,500  ; personal,  $363,800  ; total, 
$2,458,300. 


40 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


IsTEW  SHOREHAM. 

In  this  town  there  are  evidences  of  greater  prosperity  than  in  1873  and 
values  have  increased  proportionally,  but  the  statement  by  the  assessors 
that  they  intend  to  value  real  estate  at  two-thirds  of  its  actual  value  is  taken 
by  the  Board  with  some  allowance;  the  records  show  very  few  transfers 
where  the  consideration  is  expressed,  but  from  the  evidence  obtained  there- 
from, and  from  the  assessors  and  others,  and  from  a personal  inspection  of 
the  property,  the  Board  have  determined  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  the 
real  estate  is  75  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  which  the  Board  find  to  be 
$750,782,  as  against  $563,087  of  the  local  assessment  of  1890. 

The  Board  find  that  there  is  not  a great  deal  of  personal  property  on  the 
Island,  and  that  the  assessors’  valuation  of  it  was  90  per  cent,  of  the  true 
valuation  thereof,  which  is  $131,255,  as  against  $118,130  of  the  local  assess- 
ment of  1890. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $551,845  ; personal,  $120,875  ; 
total,  $672,720.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $563,087  ; per- 
sonal, $118,130  ; total,  $681,217.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was,  real,  $377,308  ; personal,  $71,775  ; total,  $449,083.  The  Board’s  valua- 
tion is,  real,  $750,782  ; personal,  $131,255;  total,  $882,037. 


WARREN. 

The  assessors  of  this  town  claim  to  have  assessed  the  real  estate  beyond  its 
fair,  cash  value,  and  to  support  their  claim  assert  that  there  is  little  or  no 
demand  for  property,  and  that  sales  are  only  upon  compulsion.  The  Board 
could  obtain  no  records  of  sales  where  the  actual  consideration  was  expressed 
in  the  transfers,  but  they  obtained  some  information  relative  to  this  class  of 
property  from  residents  of  the  town  other  than  the  assessors.  From  all  the 
facts  obtained  and  from  a personal  inspection  of  the  property  they  have  de- 
termined that  the  assessed  valuation  is  95  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation. 
They  find  that  this  true  valuation  including  the  railroad  property  and  in- 
cluding the  mill  property  is  $1,718,894.  They  also  find  that  the  real  estate 
of  the  two  mills  is  slightly  under-valued,  and  that  the  assessment  should  be 
$345,000,  instead  of  $298,000,  making  the  total  real  valuation  of  the  town 
$2,063,894. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


41 


Since  the  State  valuation  of  1873  the  town  has  lost  considerable  personal 
property  by  the  distribution  of  certain  large  estates,  but  there  remains  a 
large  class  of  persons  who  do  not  depend  upon  their  daily  labor  for  their 
support.  The  Board  concludes  from  this  fact  and  from  others  brought  to 
their  attention,  taking  also  into  consideration  the  increase  in  population  of 
the  town,  that  the  personal  property  of  the  town  not  including  mills  is  as- 
sessed at  90  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  and  this  they  find  to  be  $1,344,277. 

The  personal  property  of  the  mills  seems  to  be  much  under-valued,  and 
the  Board  have  computed  the  true  valuation  of  this  class  of  property  to  be 
$711,342,  in  place  of  $354,500  the  local  assessment  thereof.  The  total  per- 
sonal valuation  of  the  town  is  therefore  found  to  be  $2,055,619. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,931,450  ; personal,  $1,608,550; 
total,  $3,540,000.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $1,930,950  ; 
personal,  $1,564,350  ; total,  $3,495,300.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of 
1873  was,  real,  $1,837,122;  personal,  $2,858,024;  total,  $4,695,146. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $2,063,894 ; personal,  $2,055,619  ; total, 
$4,119,513. 


BRISTOL. 

The  assessors  claim  to  value  real  estate  at  its  full,  fair,  cash  value,  and  to 
base  their  valuation  for  the  several  localities  in  the  town,  upon  the  public 
and  private  sales  in  each  locality.  They  also  claim  that  three  or  four  years 
since  a general  re-valuation  of  real  estate  was  made,  somewhat  increasing 
the  valuation  thereof.  Following  this  calculation  there  came  a period  of 
great  depression,  which  still  continues  . to  a considerable  extent.  A large 
number  of  record  sales  was  obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  the  town  clerk, 
from  which  their  methods  of  figuring,  i.e.,  deducting  large  sales,  and  in- 
cluding large  sales,  the  taxed  value  of  the  property  was  found  to  be  95.7  per 
cent.,  96.9  per  cent,  .and  104  per  cent,  of  the  selling  value  thereof.  The 
Board  have  recognized  that  the  depressed  condition  of  real  estate  values  is 
only  temporary,  and  therefore  upon  the  information  received  have  deter- 
mined that  the  assessed  value  of  the  general  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mills 
and  railroad  property,  is  95  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  making  such  true 
.value  $3,362,842. 

The  Board  finds  that  the  real  estate  of  mills  is  slightly  under-valued  with 
the  exception  of  one  concern,  the  “ rubber  works  ” where  the  under- valua- 
tion is  very  large.  They  have  made  the  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  the 
6 


42 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


mills  to  be  $602,000,  instead  of  $322,000,  the  local  assessment,  and  make  the 
total  valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  the  town,  including  the  real  estate  of 
mills  and  the  railroad  property,  $4,084,842. 

The  fact  that  the  inventories  of  estates  show  a slight  increase  over  the 
assessed  values  thereof,  and  that  there  seems  to  be  a disposition  to  allow 
some  leeway  in  the  valuation  of  personal  property  has,  with  other  informa- 
tion, influenced  the  Board  in  determining,  that  the  assessment  of  personal 
property  exclusive  of  mills  is  93  per  cent,  of  the  true  value.  This  true  value 
is  $1,407,634.  Adding  to  this  sum  the  Board’s  value  of  mill  personal  prop- 
erty, which  is  $171,000,  as  against  $75,000  of  the  local  assessment,  makes  a 
total  true  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  $1,578,634.  The  assessors’ 
valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $3,714,900;  personal,  $1,354,500;  total,  $5,069,400. 
The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $3,636,700  ; personal,  $1,384,100  ; 
total,  $5,020,800. 

The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $3,116,111  ; personal, 
$2,177,868 ; total,  $5,293,979.  The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $4,084,842; 
personal,  $1,578,634  ; total,  $5,663,476. 


BARRINGTON. 

This  town  in  addition  to  its  village  contains  a considerable  area  of  shore 
property  devoted  to  building  sites.  Farming  lands  have  not  depreciated  to 
any  extent,  and  as  a rule  are  valued  as  high  to-day  as  sixteen  years  ago. 
The  property  first  named  has  increased  considerably  in  value  during  that 
period.  The  assessors  claim  to  assess  at  fair,  cash  value,  but  there  seems  to 
be  a difference  of  opinion  among  them  as  to  the  meaning  of  that  term. 
Some  holding  that  it  means  what  property  would  sell  for  under  favorable 
circumstances,  while  others  contend  that  it  refers  to  a forced  sale.  They 
stated  that  they  had  recently  made  a re- valuation  of  real  estate  for  the  pur- 
pose of  removing  the  then  existing  inequalities  of  taxation,  and  the  impres- 
sion made  upon  the  Board  was  that  the  assessors  had  quite  successfully  per- 
formed this  difficult  task.  Transfer  records  showed  that  in  but  very  few 
cases  the  actual  consideration  was  expressed,  and  the  Board  had,  in  this 
town,  also,  to  rely  upon  personal  testimony  and  upon  comparisons  which 
they  made  in  their  inspection  of  property.  From  all  the  information  that 
the  Board  could  obtain,  from  every  source,  they  have  concluded  that  the 
entire  real  estate  of  the  town  is  assessed  at  95  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  the 
latter  amount  being  $1,441,275. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


43 


All  classes  of  personal  property  in  the  town  appear  to  be  assessed,  but  the 
impression  which  the  Board  received  was  that  the  assessors  made  the  allow- 
ances, which  assessors  usually  make  when  a town  wishes  to  invite  wealthy 
people  to  become  citizens  thereof,  and  the  Board  have  therefore  considered 
the  assessment  of  this  class  of  property  to  be  90  per  cent,  of  its  true  value. 
The  Board’s  valuation  of  the  personal  property  on  this  basis  is  found  to 
be  $654,220. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,374,192.40;  personal, 
$608,823  ; total*  $1,983,015.40.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $1,369,212  ; personal,  $588,798  ; total,  $1,958,010.  The  valuation  of  the 
State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,311,360  ; personal,  $419,768  ; total, 
$1,731,128. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,441,275;  personal,  $654,220;  total, 
$2,095,495. 


NORTH  KINGSTOWN. 

This  town  rejoices  in  having  not  only  a low  rate  of  valuation,  but  also  a 
low  rate  of  taxation,  a combination  which  many  larger  communities  have 
striven  for  in  vain. 

The  assessors  claim  to  value  real  estate  from  50  to  75  per  cent,  of  its  full 
value,  but  the  Board  find  that  this  statement  is  somewhat  exaggerated  as  ap- 
plied to  all  the  real  estate  of  the  town,  as  some  farming  properties  do  not 
realize  their  assessed  value  when  offered  for  sale.  But  their  statements  are 
undoubtedly  true,  relative  to  village  property.  Such  definite  information 
about  sales  as  the  Board  could  obtain,  indicated  that  the  proportion  of  assessed 
values  to  selling  values  was  very  low.  Considering  these  two  classes  of  prop- 
erty upon  the  facts  here  presented,  the  Board  estimated  that  the  assessors 
value  general  real  estate  at  75  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  which  the  Board 
ascertain  to  be  $2,358,866.  The  Board  have  increased  the  valuation  of  one 
of  the  railroads  so  that  it  should  more  nearly  conform  to  the  valuation  put 
upon  it  under  nearly  the  same  conditions  in  other  towns  and  have  made  the 
total  valuation  of  railroads  $598,000,  instead  of  $448,000  the  local  assessment. 

In  the  valuation  of  mill  property  the  assessors  have  more  nearly  ap- 
proached the  standard  of  valuation  of  the  Board  than  in  their  other  valua- 
tions, and  the  Board  find  the  true  valuation  of  the  mill  property  to  be,  real, 
$355,000,  against  $309,000  of  the  local  assessors,  and  personal,  $303,000, 
against  $237,000  of  the  local  assessors. 


44 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


Adding  the  Board’s  valuation  of  mills  and  railroads  to  their  valuation  of 
the  general  real  estate,  the  true  valuation  of  the  real  property  of  the  town  is 
ascertained  to  be  $3,311,866. 

In  the  matter  of  personal  property  the  inference  which  the  Board  have 
drawn  from  the  information  obtained,  is  that  the  assessed  valuation  thereof 
was  90  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation.  This  finding  is  substantiated  in  part 
by  the  statement  of  the  assessors,  that  the  inventories  of  estates  usually 
show  a larger  amount  than  the  assessed  value.  The  true  value  of  this  class 
of  property  is  computed  by  the  Board  to  be  $1,175,444,  adding  to  this  the 
Board’s  valuation  of  the  mill  personal  makes  the  total  personal  valuation 
$1,478,444. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $2,470,050  ; personal, 
$1,250,050;  total,  $3,725,100.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was, 
real,  $2,526,150;  personal,  $1,294,900  ; total,  $3,821,050.  The  valuation  of 
the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,948,842  ; personal,  $936,690  ; total, 
$2,885,532. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $3,311,866;  personal,  $1,477,444 ; total, 
$4,799,310. 


SOUTH  KIUGSTOWH. 

The  assessors  first  stated  that  they  intended  to  tax  real  estate  at  its  full 
cash  yalue,  but  after  a quite  lengthy  examination  of  their  methods,  facts 
were  disclosed  by  their  statements,  that  property  as  ‘a  rule  brought  more 
than  it  was  assessed  for,  and  that  they  actually  assessed  the  village  property 
at  about  70  per  cent,  of  its  full  value,  and  property  throughout  the  town  at 
about  80  per  cent,  of  its  full  value.  Farming  property  seemed  to  be  assessed 
at  nearer  its  \alue  than  other  property,  while  such  information  of  . sales  as 
the  Board  could  get.  tended  to  prove  the  statements  of  the  assessors  relative 
to  their  under-valuation  of  village  property.  The  Board  have  determined 
that  the  statement  of  the  assessors  that  they  value  property  throughout  the 
town  generally  at  80  per  cent,  of  its  true  value  is  substantially  correct,  and 
therefore  on  that  basis  have  ascertained  the  true  valuation  to  be  $2,530,631. 

The  Board  have  not  changed  the  valuation  of  railroad  property,  but  found 
it  necessary  to  place  a slightly  increased  valuation  on  the  mill  property,  they 
making  the  value  of  the  mill  real  estate  to  be  $182,400  in  place  of  $147,000, 
the  local  assessment,  and  the  mill  personal  estate  to  be  $178,600,  in  place  of 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OP  STATE  VALUATION. 


45 


$92,370  the  local  assessment.  The  total  real  valuation  of  the  town  the  Board 
find  to  be  $3,108,031. 

The  Board  found  a very  large  number  of  persons  assessed  for  personal 
property,  but  also  found  that  such  property  as  assessed  is  not  rated  at  its 
full  value.  Owners  of  railroad  stock  quoted  at  above  par  are  not  required 
to  pay  a tax  thereon,  and  the  impression  seems  to  prevail,  that  several 
wealthy  people  are  not  assessed  to  the  full  amount  of  their  ratable  property. 
These  matters  together  with  some  others  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Board,  have  led  them  to  estimate  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property 
to  be  90  per  cent,  of  the  true  value  thereof,  making  the  latter  amount 
$2,282,294,  and  with  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  mill  personal  makes  a total 
personal  of  $2,460,894. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $2,503,900 ; personal, 
$1,987,647  ; total,  $4,491,547.49.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real, 
$2,566,505  ; personal,  $2,146,435 ; total,  $4,712,940.  The  valuation  of  the 
State  Board  of  1873,  including  the  district  of  Narragansett  not  then  set  off, 
was,  real,  $3,199,831  ; personal,  $2,234,200  ; total,  $5,434,031.  The  Board’s 
valuation  is,  real,  $3,108,031  ; personal,  $2,460,894  ; total,  $5,568,925. 


DISTRICT  OF  KARRAGARSETT. 

This  long  narrow  strip  of  the  Town  of  South  Kingstown  was  set  off  as  the 
District  of  Narragansett  in  1888.  It  borders  its  whole  length  on  the  ocean, 
and  includes  Point  Judith  and  Narragansett  Pier.  Great  improvements 
have  been  made  in  the  property  of  this  District  during  the  past  few  years. 
The  assessors  do  not  claim  to  value  the  property  at  the  price  for  which  it 
will  sell,  but  are  governed  largely  in  their  valuation  by  the  use  to  which 
property  is  put.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  fixed  basis  of  valuation,  but 
the  property  owned  by  summer  residents  seems  to  be  valued  considerably 
less  in  proportion  than  the  other  property  in  the  town.  The  Board  did  not 
get  a sufficient  number  of  sales  from  the  record  where  the  consideration  was 
expressed,  to  give  them  any  definite  results  relative  to  a comparison  of  the 
taxed  and  selling  values,  but  they  were  enabled  to  obtain  considerable  infor- 
mation from  citizens  of  the  District,  owners  of  property,  and  from  the  asses- 
sors concerning  the  actual  prices  obtained  from  the  sales  of  different  pieces 
of  property. 

This  information  shows  that  large  amounts  of  property  have  been  and  are 


46 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


selling  at  a very  much  larger  price  than  the  assessed  rate  thereof.  The 
Board’s  personal  examination  of  property,  and  the  facts  ascertained  as  above, 
together  with  such  comparisons  of  the  valuation  of  specific  pieces  of  prop- 
erty as  the  Board  were  able  to  make,  have  led  them  to  conclude  that  the 
assessors’  valuation  of  the  real  estate  is  70  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation, 
namely,  $4,193,071. 

There  is  not  a large  amount  of  personal  estate  in  the  District,  and  the  as- 
sessors are  inclined  to  be  a little  easy  in  assessing  what  there  is.  Mortgages 
appear  to  be  assessed  at  75  per  cent,  of  their  face  value,  but  there  is  not  a 
large  amount  of  this  class  of  property  in  the  District.  The  Board  have  de- 
termined that  the  assessors  have  valued  personal  property  at  90  per  cent,  of 
its  full  value,  which  they  find  to  be  $413,111. 

The  assessors’s  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $2,603,445  ; personal,  $445,050  ; 
total,  $3,048,495.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $2,935,150  ; per- 
sonal, $371,800  ; total,  $3,306,950.  The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $4,193,071 ; 
personal,  $413,111  ; total,  $4,606,182. 


CHARLESTOWN. 

The  Board  could  not  get  very  much  information  relative  to  the  value  of 
real  property  in  this  town,  because  there  did  not  seem  to  be  much  informa- 
tion to  be  had.  Transfers  were  few  in  number  and  there  was  very  little  vari- 
ance from  the  taxed  value  in  the  selling  price.  The  assessors  had  been 
obliged  to  reduce  the  valuation  upon  real  estate  during  the  last  few  years, 
as  the  property  seemed  to  have  been  assessed  much  beyond  its  actual  value. 
The  railroad  running  through  the  town  is  of  great  benefit  to  it,  as  it  enables 
the  town  to  raise  its  needed  revenue  without  serious  burdens  upon  the 
towns  people.  The  Board  have  determined  from  a very  careful  examina- 
tion of  this  question  of  valuation  as  applied  to  Charlestown,  that  the  asses- 
sors have  placed  as  high  a valuation  upon  all  the  property  of  the  town  as 
could  reasonably  be  expected,  and  therefore  find  that  the  assessed  valua- 
tion of  both  real  and  personal  is  100  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $642,760 ; personal, 
$108,000;  total,  $750,760.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$643,910  ; personal,  $110,650  ; total,  $754,560.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $564,210;  personal,  $99,750 ; total,  $663,960. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is  the  same  as  the  assessors  of  1890. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


47 


WESTERLY. 

Upon  the  first  visit  of  the  Board  to  this  town  they  found  it  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  any  information  whatever  relative  to  the  actual  value  of  real 
estate  therein.  The  Board  however  made  a thorough  personal  inspection  of 
the  property  in  town  and  gathered  such  information  as  was  possible  from  its 
citizens.  At  a subsequent  meeting  with  the  assessors  in  June,  1890,  the 
Board  were  able  to  obtain  much  more  satisfactory  information  than  at  the 
former  meeting.  The  town  is  made  up  of  three  districts,  each  representing 
a different  class  of  real  estate,  namely,  the  village  property,  the  farming 
property  and  the  Watch  Hill  district.  The  record  of  sales  in  the  Watch  Hill 
district  showed  that  the  property  therein  had  been  valued  by  the  assessors 
at  about  67  per  cent,  of  the  selling  value,  and  in  the  village  portion  of  the 
town,  property  was  assessed  at  89  per  cent,  of  the  selling  value.  Deducting 
the  mill  and  railroad  property,  the  Board  from  the  information  obtained 
have  concluded  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  the  remainder  of  the  real  estate 
is  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  namely,  $4,208,000.  The  railroad  property 
the  Board  think  is  over-valued,  but  they  have  retained  the  assessors’  valua- 
tion thereof  and  taken  it  into  consideration  in  fixing  the  percentage  above 
found. 

The  mill  property  appears  to  be  assessed  entirely  as  real  estate,  and  the 
Board  have  been  obliged  to  separate  the  personal  from  the  real  valuation  of 
the  same.  The  Board  find  from  this  process  and  from  applying  their  stand- 
ard of  mill  valuation  to  this  property,  that  the  real  estate  of  mills  is  $327,000, 
and  the  personal  estate  $333,104.  Adding  this  real  of  the  mills  to  the  Board’s 
general  valuation  of  the  real,  they  find  the  total  valuation  of  the  real  prop- 
erty to  be  $4,985,000. 

The  statements  of  the  assessors  relative  to  their  method  of  valuing  personal 
property,  and  the  other  information  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Board 
respecting  the  same,  including  the  fact  of  the  large  amount  of  deposits  in 
the  Savings  Bank,  and  the  considerable  amount  of  Bank  capital  employed 
here,  have  enabled  the  Board  to  conclude  that  the  assessed  personal  valua- 
tion is  80  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  which  makes  the  true  valuation 
$1,490,793,  and  the  total  personal  valuation,  with  the  mills,  $1,823,897. 

The  assessors’  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $4,155,400  ; personal,  $1,110,530; 
total,  $5,265,930.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real,  $4,574,800; 
personal,  $1,192,635  ; total,  $5,767,435.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board 
of  1873  was,  real,  $4,055,321  ; personal,  $1,385,400 ; total,  $5,440,721.  The 
Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $4,985,000 ; personal,  $1,823,897  ; total,  $6,808,897. 


48 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


HOPKINTOIST. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  a great  demand  for  property  in  this  town,  and 
but  few  transfers  therefore  appear  in  the  records,  but  that  there  has  been  a 
general  improvement  in  values  of  real  estate  during  the  past  several  years  is 
evidenced  by  the  assessors’  estimates  from  year  to  year.  The  main  improve- 
ment seems  to  have  been  in  the  village  property,  as  farms  are  evidently  not 
worth  so  much  as  formerly.  The  Board  could  get  no  record  of  sales  which 
would  assist  them,  and  obtained  most  of  their  information  from  the  assessors 
and  the  town  clerk.  The  statistics  of  improvements  in  the  town,  together 
with  the  other  information  obtained,  have  determined  the  Board  in  fixing 
the  value  of  real  estate,  and  they  find  that  the  assessors  have  valued  this 
kind  of  property,  exclusive  of  railroad  a^d  mill  property,  at  90  per  cent,  of  its 
true  value,  the*latter  amount  being  $884,222. 

The  assessors  seem  to  have  placed  as  high  valuation  on  railroad  property 
as  the  corporations  would  stand.  In  assessing  mill  property  they  have  rated 
all  of  it  as  real  estate.  The  Board  were  compelled  to  separate  the  real  and 
personal  valuations  of  this  class  of  property.  Applying  their  standard  of 
valuation  thereto,  they  find  the  valuation  of  the  real  estate  thereof  to  be 
$200,000,  and  of  the  personal  valuation  thereof  to  be  $290,000. 

Adding  their  real  valuation  of  the  mills  and  the  assessed  valuation  of  rail- 
roads to  their  valuation  of  general  real  estate,  the  Board  find  the  true  valua- 
tion of  the  total  real  estate  to  be  $1,184,212. 

The  Board  believe  that  the  assessors  have  valued  about  all  the  personal 
property  that  they  could  fairly  reach,  with  the  exception  of  the  personal 
property  of  mills,  and  have  therefore  accepted  the  assessed  valuation  of  the 
personal  property  exclusive  of  mills.  Adding  their  estimate  of  the  latter 
class  of  property  to  said  accepted  value,  determines  the  true  valuation  of  the 
total  personal  property  to  be  $959,200. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,212,900  ; personal, 
$521,200  ; total,  $1,734,100.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  wras,  real, 
$1,140,300  ; personal,  $775,200  ; total,  $1,915,500.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,350,062  ; personal,  $462,200  ; total,  $1,812,262. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,184,212;  personal,  $959,200  ; total, 
$2,143,412. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


49 


RICHMOND. 

After  obtaining  some  special  information  about  the  mill  property,  the 
Board  have  accepted  the  statement  of  the  assessors,  relative  to  their  valua- 
tion of  both  the  real  and  personal  property  of  mills,  in  which  they  claimed 
to  assess  such  property  at  75  per  cent,  ot  its  actual  value,  the  Board’s  esti- 
mate of  mill  property  being,  real,  $252,664  • personal,  $216,000.  From  the 
further  statements  of  the  assessors,  relative  to  farming  property  and  village 
property  in  the  town,  and  from  a system  of  comparisons  which  the  Board 
instituted,  it  has  been  found  that  the  assessed  valuation  of  both  real  and  per- 
sonal property  in  the  town  is  95  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  making  totals  of 
those  classes  of  property,  of  real,  $840,842  ; and  personal,  $291,052,  and  a 
total  valuation  of  the  real  property  including  mills  and  railroad  of  $1,093,506 
and  a total  personal  valuation  of  the  town  of  $507,052. 

The  assessed  valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,082,100;  personal,  $357,600  ; 
total,  $1,439,700.  The  assessed  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $988,300  ; per- 
sonal, $438,500  ; total,  $1,426,800.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was,  real,  $951,690  ; personal,  $329,130  ; total,  $1,280,820.  The  Board’s  valu- 
ation is,  real,  $1,093,506  ; personal,  $507,052  ; total,  $1,600,558. 


EXETER. 

This  is  one  of  the  towns  where  there  has  been  a gradual  decrease  in  the 
population,  and  a consequent  depreciation  in  its  value  of  property.  After  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  property  of  the  town,  and  after  giving  very 
careful  consideration  to  the  statements  of  the  assessors,  wherein  they  state 
that  the  farming  lands  do  not  as  a rule  sell  for  the  assessed  value,  and  to  the 
transfers  of  property,  which  in  about  half  the  cases  show  the  actual  consid- 
eration, the  Board  have  concluded  that  they  cannot  do  injustice  if  they  ac- 
cept the  estimate  of  the  real  and  personal  valuation  of  the  town  by  the  local 
assessors.  They  therefore  find  that  the  real  and  personal  valuation  of  the 
town  by  the  local  assessors  is  100  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $496,080  ; personal, 
$110,000;  total,  $606,080.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873  was,  real, 
$478,478;  personal,  $132,280;  total,  $610,758.  The  valuation  of  the  asses- 
sors of  1890  was,  real,  $485,640  ; personal,  $107,700  ; totals  $593,340  ; the 
Board’s  estimate  being  the  same. 

7 


I 


50 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


WARWICK. 

There  are  five  assessors  in  this  town,  selected  from  different  districts,  each 
one  of  whom  is  expected  to  take  charge  of  the  valuations  in  his  district. 
They  state  their  intention  to  value  at  full,  fair,  cash  value,  and  define  that 
expression  to  be  what  property  would  bring  at  forced  sale.  They  do  hot 
visit  the  property  in  every  part  of  the  town,  and  do  not  change  the  valuation 
of  property  unless  some  marked  improvement  thereon  is  called  to  their  at- 
tention. As  a reason  for  this,  they  state  that  their  remuneration  is  so  small 
that  they  cannot  afford  to  go  into  the  business  very  thoroughly.  There  are 
a great  many  shore  places  in  this  town  where  numerous  summer  dwellings 
have  been  erected,  and  property  has  experienced  a considerable  “ boom  ” in 
those  sections  during  several  years  past.  As  is  usual  with  this  class  of  prop- 
erty, the  smaller  estates  appear  to  be  assessed  at  a greater  percentage  of 
their  cost  than  the  more  expensive  estates  with  the  elaborate  improvements 
thereon.  Farming  lands  in  this  town,  while  not  in  the  deplorable  condition 
to  be  found  in  certain  sections  of  the  State,  are  yet  not  nearly  so  valuable  as 
the  farming  lands  on  the  island  of  Rhode  Island  for  instance,  and  as  a rule  are 
assessed  at  approximately  their  fair  cash  value.  But  from  the  information 
received  from  the  assessors,  and  from  other  citizens  of  the  town,  the  Board 
would  infer  that  in  the  more  populous  communities,  i.  e. , ^he  mill  villages 
and  the  shore  villages,  property  was  not  assessed  at  a very  high  percentage 
of  its  full  value  ; and  although  a record  of  such  transfers  as  they  could  ob- 
tain at  the  record  office,  wherein  the  actual  consideration  appeared  to  be 
stated,  showed  that  the  assessed  values  were  something  over  90  per  cent,  of 
the  prices  obtained,  yet  the  Board,  considering  all  the  circumstances  above 
set  forth,  have  concluded  that  the  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mills  and  railroads 
and  also  exclusive  of  the  Oakland  Beach  and  Rocky  Point  properties,  is  as- 
sessed at  85  per  cent,  of  the  true  value,  which  true  value  they  find  to  be 
$6,735,823. 

The  Board  find  that  the  assessors’  method  of  valuing  mill  property  was  to 
fix  a total  valuation  upon  each  establishment,  and  then  to  divide  the  amount 
and  call  one-half  the  real  valuation  and  one-half  the  personal  valuation 
thereof.  The  Board  were  therefore  compelled  to  re-adjust  the  valuations  of 
this  class  of  property,  and  to  determine  the  true  valuation  thereof  by  the 
methods  and  standard  which  they  had  established.  They  thus  found  the 
valuation  of  the  real  property  of  the  mills  to  be  $2,302,634,  in  place  of 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


51 


$2,113,060,  the  local  assessors’ valuation,  and  the  valuation  of  the  personal 
of  mills  to  be  $2,961,050,  instead  of  $1,934,510,  the  local  assessment  thereof. 

The  assessors  do  not  seem  to  have  given  much  attention  to  the  valuation 
of  railroad  property,  and  the  Board  find  that  it  is  in  fact  greatly  under- 
valued in  comparison  with  the  valuation  of  the  same  kind  of  property  in  the 
adjoining  towns.  They  have  therefore  placed  a valuation  upon  this  property 
of  $845,000,  in  place  of  $645,000,  the  local  assessment.  Adding  the  Board’s 
valuation  of  the  real  property  of  mills,  and  of  the  Oakland  Beach  and  Bocky 
Point  properties,  and  of  the  railroads,  the  total  true  valuation  of  the  real 
property  of  the  town  is  found  to  be  $10,043,457. 

The  assessors  seem  desirous  of  avoiding  the  burden  which  would  weigh  on 
their  conscience  if  they  should  happen  to  over-value  the  personal  property 
of  an  individual,  and  therefore  approached  this  question  of  personal  prop- 
erty valuation  with  great  caution.  They  state  that  they  do  not  tax  farming 
tools,  live  stock  or  personal  chattels  ; do  not  always  value  mortgages  at  their 
face  value  ; know  little  if  anything  of  any  railroad  stock  held  in  the  town  ; 
and  also  admit  that  the  inventories  of  estates  are  found  as  a rule  to  be  much 
larger  than  their  assessed  values.  The  further  statement  was  made  that  a 
large  number  of  persons  have  come  into  the  town  for  the  purpose  of  escaping 
taxation.  The  wants  of  the  town  being  few  and  the  valuation  of  real  property 
and  of  mills  being  large  enough  even  under  a low  valuation,  to  enable  the 
town  to  supply  these  wants  on  a very  low  rate  of  taxation,  there  has  been  no 
particular  inducement  for  the  assessors  to  look  for  more  personal  property 
than  they  could  easily  find.  With  these  facts  in  mind  and  regarding  also 
the  increase  in  the  population  of  the  town,  the  Board  have  concluded  that 
the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property  exclusive  of  mills  is  certainly 
not  over  75  per  cent,  of  its  true  value,  which  amount  they  find  to  be 
$1,412,866.  Adding  to  this  sum  the  Board’s  personal  of  mills,  shows  the 
total  valuation  of  the  personal  property  of  the  town  to  be  $4,373,916. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $8,243,035  ; personal, 
$3,159,740;  total,  $11,402,775.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$8,618,510  ; personal,  $2,994,160  ; total,  $11,612,670.  The  valuation  of  the 
State  Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $7,894,993  ; personal,  $3,107,970;  total, 
$11,002,963. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $10,043,457  ; personal,  $4,373,916  ; total, 
$14,417,373. 


52 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


COVENTRY. 

The  assessors  are  selected  from  different  sections  of  the  town  and  are  re- 
sponsible, apparently,  each  for  his  own  district.  There  appears  to  be  no 
standard  of  valuation  of  real  estate.  The  assessors  seem  to  have  taken  old 
valuations  and  added  to  or  deducted  from  them  as  they  thought  proper.  The 
farming  lands  have  barely  held  their  own,  and  in  many  cases  have  depre- 
ciated in  value,  while  in  some  of  the  villages,  values  seem  out  of  proportion 
to  the  surroundings,  although  the  assessors  assured  the  Board  that  the  prices 
quoted  to  them  of  certain  village  property  had  been  and  were  easily  obtained. 

In  other  sections  the  assessors  did  not,  according  to  the  information  ob- 
tained by  the  Board,  place  the  highest  value  upon  the  property.  The 
records  of  sales  show  the  assessed  values  to  approximate  very  closely  to  the 
selling  values,  and  the  Board  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  assessors 
valuation  of  real  estate,  exclusive  of  mills  and  railroads,  is  about  95  per  cent, 
of  the  true  value,  and  this  true  value  is  ascertained  to  be  $1,476,684. 

In  regard  to  the  mill  property  of  the  town  it  was  found  that  the  assessors 
had  valued  the  real  estate  at  very  nearly  its  full  value,  their  valuation  being 
$826,400,  as  compared  with  the  Board’s  calculation  of  $848,400,  while  in  case 
of  the  personal,  under-valuation  was  more  marked,  the  assessors’  valuation 
being  $497,000,  while  the  Board’s  was  $638,600. 

The  Board  found  that  the  property  of  one  of  the  railroads  was  considera- 
bly under-valued,  and  have  increased  the  same  to  more  nearly  a fair  valua- 
tion. Their  estimate  of  the  railroad  property  is  $447,000,  as  against  $327,000 
of  the  local  assessors. 

Adding  the  Board’s  valuation  of  the  mills’  real  and  of  the  railroads  to  their 
valuation  of  the  general  real  estate,  determines  the  true  value  of  the  total 
real  property  to  be  $2,767,084. 

The  assessors’  statements  that  they  do  not  tax  small  holdings  of  stock  nor 
railroad  stocks  at  alJ,  and  that  inventories  of  estates  have  shown  a consider- 
ably larger  amount  of  property  than  assessed  thereon,  have  led  the  Board  to 
fix  the  percentage  of  the  assessors’  valuation  of  personal  property  to  the  true 
valuation  at  90  per  cent.,  the  true  valuation  being,  exclusive  of  mills, 
$901,222  ; and  with  the  Board’s  estimate  of  the  mill  property,  the  total  per-, 
sonal  valuation  is  found  to  be  $1,539,822. 

The  assessors’ valuation  of  1889  was,  real,  $2,505,250  ; personal,  $1,275,350  ; 
total,  $3,780,600.  The  assessors’  valuation  of  1890  was,  real,  $2,556,250 ; per- 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


53 

sonal,  $1,308,100  ; total,  $3,864,350.  The  valuation  of  the  State  Board  of  1873 
was,  real,  $2,559,895;  personal,  $1,531,752  ; total,  $4,091,617.  The  Board’s 
valuation  is,  real,  $2,767,084;  personal,  $1,539,822  ; total,  $4,306,906. 


EAST  GREENWICH. 

The  assessors  made  two  statements  relative  to  their  valuation  of  real  prop- 
erty, one,  that  they  valued  business  property  on  the  basis  of  what  the 
income  would  be,  the  other,  that  they  intend  to  value  real  estate  at  as  near 
the  full  value  as  they  can  get  at  it,  based  on  the  selling  price.  They  value 
land  in  the  village  by  the  front  foot  They  further  stated  near  the  close  of 
the  examination  that  they  intended  to  give  a leeway  on  all  property  and 
valued  at  perhaps  85  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  apparent  value.  The  Board  could 
not  obtain  much  information  from  the  record  of  transfers,  but  in  a number 
of  cases,  where  they  were  able  to  learn  the  actual  selling  prices,  found  that 
the  assessed  values  were  considerable  lower  than  the  selling  values,  and  the 
Board  have  determined  that  the  assessors  have  valued  real  estate  at  90  per 
cent,  of  its  true  value,  the  true  value  being  $1,817,955,  including  in  this  esti- 
mate real  property  of  all  kinds. 

As  the  assessors  do  not  tax  farming  tools,  live-stock,  railroad  stock  or  per- 
sonal chattels,  and  the  inventories  of  estates  have  shown  in  a number  of  in- 
stances a considerable  increase  over  the  assessed  value,  the  Board  have 
estimated,  the  assessed  value  of  personal  property  to  be  85  per  cent,  of  its 
true  value,  which  they  therefore  compute  to  be  $663,475. 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $1,494,950  ; personal, 
$328,500  ; total,  $1,823,450.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$1,635,160  ; personal,  $563,954  ; total,  $2,200,114.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $1,560,931  ; personal,  $308,925  ; total,  $1,869,856. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $1,817,955  ; personal,  $663,475 ; total, 
$2,481,430. 


WEST  GREENWICH. 

The  statement  of  the  assessors  that  they  generally  assess  real  estate  at 
about  full,  fair,  cash  value,  is  taken  with  a grain  of  allowance,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  assessors  have  reduced  the  valuation  of  real 
estate  much  below  that  of  similar  lands  in  the  adjoining  towns  of  Exeter  and 


54 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


Coventry,  and  have  raised  the  rate  of  taxation  to  an  amount  sufficient  to  ob- 
tain the  same  revenues  as  before. 

After  fully  considering  these  matters  and  making  an  examination  of  the 
property  of  the  town,  the  Board  have  concluded  that  the  assessed  valuation 
of  1890  is  80  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  making  the  latter,  $855,000. 

The  personal  valuation  of  the  town  is  small,  but  owing  to  the  radical  de- 
crease in  population,  the  Board  think  that  the  assessed  valuation  cannot 
fairly  be  changed,  and  find  it  to  be  100  per  cent,  of  the  true  valuation,  i.  e., 
$84,400 

The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1889  was,  real,  $287,850;  personal, 
$75,650  ; total,  $863,500.  The  valuation  of  the  assessors  of  1890  was,  real, 
$284,000 ; personal,  $84,400 ; total,  $368,400.  The  valuation  of  the  State 
Board  of  1873  was,  real,  $373,600  ; personal,  $174,520  ; total,  $548,120. 

The  Board’s  valuation  is,  real,  $355,000 ; personal,  $84,400  ; total, 
$439,400 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


55 


The  amount  of  the  valuation  of  the  several  towns  of  the  State,  by  the 
State  Board  of  1873  was  as  follows  : 


Towns. 

Real  Estate. 

Personal 

Property. 

Total. 

Providence 

$116,544,000 

$40,160,700 

$156,704,700 

North  Providence 

21,497,387 

2,227,555 

23,724,942 

East  Providence  

3,227,212 

563,325 

3,790,537 

Pawtucket 

5,161,737 

1,825,405 

6,987,142 

Lincoln 

6.488,395 

2,097,628 

8,586,023 

Smithfield  

1,422,906 

913,680 

2,336,586 

North  Smithfield  

1,589,076 

1,092,050 

2,681,116 

Woonsocket  

8,479,595 

3,017,967 

11,497,562 

Cumberland. 

3,860,966 

2,132,750 

5,993,716 

Burrillville 

2 099,570 

661,900 

2,761,470 

Glocester 

826,775 

365,500 

1,192,275 

Foster  

511,250 

151,400 

662,650 

Scituate 

1,724,731 

985,592 

2,710,323 

Johnston  

3,354,093 

879,300 

4,233,393 

Cranston  

7,220,277 

1,042,200 

8,262,477 

Newport  

20,983,850 

8,489,700 

29,473,550 

Middletown 

2,295,500 

482,650 

2,778,150 

Portsmouth 

2,093,067 

523,700 

2,616,767 

Tiverton  

1,227,637 

555,915 

1,783,552 

Little  Compton .... 

923,285 

352,800 

1,276,085 

J amestown  

547,167 

120,400 

667,567 

New  Shoreham 

377,308 

71,775 

, 449,083 

Warren 

1,837,122 

2,858,024 

4,695,146 

Bristol  

3,116,111 

2,177,868 

5,293,979 

Barrington 

1,311,360 

419,758 

1,731,128 

North  Kingstown 

1,948,842 

936,680 

2,885,532 

South  Kingstown  

3,199,831 

2,234,200 

5,434,031 

Charlestown 

564,210 

99,750 

663,960 

Westerly  

4,055,321 

1,385,400 

5,440,721 

Hopkinton 

1,350,062 

462,200 

1,812,262 

Richmond  

951,690 

329,130 

1,280,820 

Exeter 

478,478 

132,280 

610,758 

Warwick . . 

7,894,993 

3,107,970 

11,002,963 

Coventry 

2.559,895 

1,531,752 

4,091,617 

East  Greenwich 

1,560,931 

308,925 

1,869,856 

West  Greenwich 

373,600 

174,520 

548,120 

• 

$243,658,190 

$84,872,369 

$328,530,559 

The  total  valuation  of  several  towns  was  thereafter  fixed,  in  consequence 
of  territorial  change,  as  follows  : 


Providence  $168,547,726 

N orth  Providence * 1 , 029, 846 

Pawtucket 17,839,212 

South  Kingstown 3,490,468 

District  of  Narragansett 1,943,562 


56 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION.  • 


The  valuation  of  the  several  towns  of  the  State,  reported  by  the  Board,  is 
as  follows  : * 


Towns. 

Real  Estate. 

Personal 

Property. 

Total. 

Providence 

$127,057,275 

$49,140,015 

$176,197,290 

North  Providence  

1,388,900 

377,800 

1,766,700 

East  Providence - . . . 

6,677,918 

1,105,601 

7,783,519 

Pawtucket  

21,823,759 

6,589,355 

28,413,114 

Lincoln  

8,800,028 

3,237,300 

12,037,328 

Smithfield  

1,487,398 

790,600 

2,277,998 

North  Smithfield 

1,693,888 

1,105,494 

2,799,382 

Woonsocket  

9,21 1,687 

3,308,323 

12,520,010 

Cumberland  ...  

5,829,978 

2,904,325 

8,734,303 

Burrillville 

2,717,794 

1,284,686 

4,002,48) 

Glocester 

840,200 

677,600 

1,517,800 

Poster  

386,925 

117,700 

504,625 

Scituate 

1,812,500 

966,078 

2,778,578 

Johnston  

5,730,344 

999,444 

6,729,788 

Cranston  ... 

8,265,677 

1,217,722 

9,483,399 

Newport  

36,224,143 

9,151,666 

45,375,809 

Middletown 

2,481,266 

601,333 

3,082,599 

Portsmouth  

1,957,500 

566,250 

2,523,750 

Tiverton  

1,745,324 

903,900 

2,649,224 

Little  Compton 

1,351,187 

535,555 

1,886,742 

J amestown 

2,094,500 

363,800 

2,458,300 

New  Shoreham  

750,782 

131,255 

882,037 

Warren 

2,063,894 

2,055,619 

4,119,513 

Bristol  

4,084,842 

1,578,634 

5,663,476 

Barrington  

1,441,275 

654,220 

2,095,495 

North  Kingstown 

3,311,866 

1,478,444 

4,790,310 

South  Kingstown. 

3,108,031 

2,460,894 

5,568,925 

District  of  Narragansett  . . . 

4,193,071 

413,111 

4,606,182 

Charlestown 

643,910 

110,650 

754,560 

Westerly  

4,985,000 

1,823,897 

6,808,897 

Hopkinton  

1,184,212 

959,200 

2,143,412 

Richmond  

1,093,506 

507,052 

1,600,558 

Exeter  

485,640 

107,700 

593,340 

Warwick . . . . 

10,043,457 

4,373,916 

14,417,373 

Coventry  

2,767,084 

1,539,822 

4,306,906 

East  Greenwich 

1,817,955 

663,475 

2,481,430 

West  Greenwich 

355,000 

84,400 

439,400 

$291,907,716 

$104,886,836 

$396,794,552 

REPORT  OP  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


57 


The  percentage  of  the  valuation  of  each  town  as  compared  with  the  total 
valuation  of  the  State,  according  to  the  present  State  valuation  and  the  val- 
uation as  reported  by  the  Board,  is  : 


Towns. 

1873. 

Changed 

Valuation. 

New  Valuation. 

Providence 

.47699 

.51304 

.44405+ 

North  Providence  

.07222 

.00314 

.00445+ 

East  Providence 

.01154 

.01961  + 

Pawtucket  ...  

.02127 

.05430 

.07160+ 

Lincoln 

.02614 

.03033+ 

Smithfield ... 

.00711 

.00574+ 

North  Smithfield 

.00816 

.(  0705+ 

Woonsocket 

.03500 

.03155  + 

Cumberland  

.01824 

.02201  + 

Burrillville  

.00840 

.01008+ 

Glocester 

.00363 

.00382+ 

Foster  . . 

.00202 

.00127+ 

Scituate  

.00825 

.00700+ 

Johnston . . 

.01289 

.01696+ 

Cranston 

.02515 

.02390+ 

Newport  . . 

.08971 

.11435+ 

Middletown  

.00846 

.00776+ 

Portsmouth 

.00796 

.00636+ 

Tiverton 

.00543 

.00667+ 

Little  Compton 

.00388 

.00475+ 

Jamestown  . 

.00203 

.00619+ 

New  Shoreham  

.00137 

.00222+ 

Warren 

.01429 

.01038+ 

Bristol 

.01611 

.01427+ 

Barrington  

.00527 

.00528+ 

North  Kingstown 

.00878 

.01207+ 

South  Kingstown 

.01654 

.01062 

.01403+ 

District  of  Narragansett 

.00592 

.01160+ 

Charlestown  . 

.00202 

00190+ 

Westerly 

.01656 

.01715+ 

Hopkinton 

.00552 

.00540+ 

Richmond  

.00390 

.00403+ 

Exeter 

.00186 

.00149+ 

Warwick 

.03349 

.03633+ 

Coventry . 

.01245 

.01085  + 

East  Greenwich  

.00569 

.00625+ 

West  Greenwich 

.00167 

.00110+ 

1.00000 

.99985  + 

8 


58 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


The  share  of  each  town  of  every  $1,000  of  tax  collected  by  the  State  from 
the  towns,  according  to  the  valuation  of  1873  and  the  valuation  reported  by 
the  Board,  is: 


Towns. 

1873. 

Changed 

Valuation. 

New  Valuation. 

Providence 

$476  99 

$513  04 

$444  05 

North  Providence  

72  22 

3 14 

4 45 

East  Providence  

11  54 

19  61 

Pawtucket  

21  27 

54  30 

71  60 

Lincoln 

26  14 

30  33 

Smithfield  

7 11 

5 74 

North  Smithfield 

8 16 

7 05 

Woonsocket 

35  00 

31  55 

Cumberland 

18  24 

22  01 

Burrillville 

8 40 

10  08 

Glocester 

3 63 

3 82 

Foster 

2 02 

1 27 

Scituate 

8 25 

7 00 

Johnston  

12  89 

16  96 

Cranston 

25  15 

23  90 

Newport  

89  71 

114  35 

Middletown 

8 46 

7 76 

Portsmouth .... 

7 96 

6 36 

Tiverton 

5 43 

6 67 

Little  Compton 

3 88 

4 75 

Jamestown 

2 03 

6 19 

New  Shoreham 

1 37 

2 22 

Warren  

14  29 

10  38 

Bristol 

16  11 

14  27 

Barrington 

5 27 

5 28 

North  Kingstown 

8 78 

12  07 

South  Kingstown 

16  54 

10  62 

14  03 

District  of  Narragansett  . . . 

5 92 

11  60 

Charlestown. 

2 02 

1 90 

Westerly 

16  56 

17  15 

Hopkinton 

5 52 

5 40 

Richmond. 

3 90 

4 03 

Exeter . . 

1 86 

1 49 

Warwick.. . 

33  49 

36  33 

Coventry 

12  45 

10  85 

East  Greenwich 

5 69 

6 25 

West  Greenwich 

1 67 

1 10 

$1,000  00 

$999  85+ 

REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


59 


The  assessors  of  the  following  towns  have  separated  the  value  of  the  land 
and  the  value  of  the  improvements,  with  totals,  as  follows: 


Towns. 

Land. 

Improvements. 

North  Providence 

$463,850 

$528,325 

Pawtucket 

10,154,522 

10,245,878 

Lincoln  . . 

4,038,605 

4,753,620 

Smithfield 

483,389 

757,150 

North  Smithfield 

569,025 

947.325 

Cumberland  

1,876,098 

3,142,324 

Foster  

217,650 

169,275 

Scituate 

480,975 

1,098,500 

Johnston  

2,443,700 

2,529,700 

Cranston 

3,573,075 

3,837,875 

Tiverton  

662,725 

840,201 

Jamestown  

953,800 

512,350 

North  Kingstowm 

1,246,400 

1,279,750 

South  Kingstown 

954,655 

1,611,850 

District  of  Narragansett 

2,158,000 

777,150 

Charlestown 

481,560 

162,350 

Hopkinton 

155,500 

984,800 

Richmond  

188,925 

799,375 

Exeter  

343,845 

141,795 

Warwick  

3,188,060 

5,430,450 

Coventry 

715,235 

1,841,015 

East  Greenwich 

713,455 

922,705 

West  Greenwich 

194,850 

89,150 

$35,254,899 

$43,402,913 

60 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


State  of  Kfjobc  JJslanfr,  -fee. 


In  General  Assembly,  January  Session,  A.  D.  1889. 


Resolution  appointing  a Joint  Special  Committee  on  the  Revenue  of 

the  State. 

[Passed  April  26th,  1889.] 

Resolved,  That  Messrs.  Israel  B.  Mason  of  Providence,  Henry  W.  Hayes 
of  Bristol  and  Edwin  A.  Perrin  of  Pawtucket,  on  the  part  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  Messrs.  Joseph  E.  Cole  of  Woonsocket  and  Robert  S. 
Franklin  of  Newport,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  be  a joint  special  committee 
for  the  purpose  of  examining  into  the  present  methods  of  valuation  of  the 
several  cities  and  towns  of  the  State,  upon  which  the  State  tax  is  based,  and 
also  to  take  into  consideration  all  subjects  connected  with  the  revenue  of  the 
State,  the  sources  from  which  it  is  derived,  and  the  manner  of  assessing  and 
collecting  the  same,  and  also  all  matters  in  connection  therewith.  Said  com- 
mittee shall  have  power  to  appoint  from  their  own  number  or  otherwise,  a 
secretary,  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  to  examine  all  the  books  and 
records  of  the  several  cities  and  towns,  or  any  officer  thereof,  so  far  as  the 
same  may  be  by  them  deemed  necessary  for  the  prosecution  of  their  work. 

Said  committee  shall  report  by  bill  or  otherwise  to  the  next  General  As- 
sembly at  its  adjourned  session  in  Providence. 

A true  copy.  Attest : 

S.  H.  CROSS, 

Secretary  of  State. 


REPORT  OF  BOARD  OF  STATE  VALUATION. 


61 


State  of  lil)obe  Islantr  anli  Jlvombcna  plantations. 


January  Session,  A.  D.  1890. 


An  Act  relating  to  the  Bevenue  of  the  State. 

It  is  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  as  follows  : 

Section  1.  The  joint  special  committee  appointed  at  the  January  Session 
A.  D.  1889,  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  inquire  into  the  sources  of  revenue 
of  the  State,  together  with  Ambrose  Feely  of  Woonsocket  and  Amos  D. 
Arnold  of  Pawtucket,  is  hereby  constituted  a board  of  State  valuation. 

Sec.  2.  Said  board  shall,  continuing  the  work  of  and  following  the  plan 
established  by  said  committee,  prepare  a re-valuation  of  all  the  ratable  prop- 
erty of  the  several  towns  and  cities  of  the  State,  and  shall  report  the  same  to 
the  General  Assembly  at  its  January  Session,  1891,  before  February  1st, 
1891,  and,  if  approved  by  the  General  Assembly,  the  same  shall  be  used  by 
the  General  Treasurer  as  the  basis  for  the  apportionment  of  the  State  tax 
among  said  towns  and  cities. 

Sec.  3.  Said  board  shall  have  the  authority  to  administer,  through  its 
^ chairman,  oaths  to  all  persons  appearing  before  it ; to  send  for  persons  and 
papers  ; to  examine  all  the  books  and  records  of  the  several  cities  and  towns 
and  of  any  officer  thereof,  and  to  make  a personal  inspection  of  all  property 
in  the  State,  so  far  as  the  same  may  by  it  be  deemed  necessary,  at  proper 
and  convenient  times  ; and  said  board  may  employ  a clerk. 

Sec.  4.  Said  board  shall  also  inquire  into  the  other  sources  of  revenue  to 
State,  and  such  possible  sources  of  revenue  as  it  may  deem  advisable,  for 
the  purpose  of  suggesting  a means  of  increasing  the  revenue  of  the  State 
without  increasing  the  burdens  of  direct  taxation  upon  the  people  of  the 
the  State  ; and  shall  report  its  findings,  together  with  such  suggestions  as 
may  appear  to  it  proper  to  be  made,  to  the  General  Assembly  at  its  January 
Session,  A.  D.  1891. 

Sec.  5.  There  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the  use  of  said  board  the  sum  of 


62 


REPORT  OP  BOARD  OP  STATE  VALUATION. 


« 


seventy-five  hundred  dollars,  said  sum  to  cover  the  entire  expense  of  the 
work  of  said  board,  including  the  compensation  of  its  members  and  of  the 
clerk  of  said  board  in  full,  and  all  expenses  incident  to  the  work  of  said 
board  which  may  be  incurred.  Said  sum  shall  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in 
the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  and  the  State  Auditor  shall  draw 
his  orders  upon  the  General  Treasurer  for  said  sum  or  such  portion  thereof 
as  may  be  required  from  time  to  time,  upon  an  order  signed  by  the  chairman 
and  one  other  member  of  said  board,  and  approved  by  the  Governor  of  the 
State. 

Sec.  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


4 


r 


